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Endogenous Transport Costs in International Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Joern Kleinert
  • Julia Spies
Abstract
In this paper we claim that distance alone is a poor proxy for international transport costs in empirical studies. We model a manufacturing and a transport sector and let the level of manufacturing exports determine the demand for transport services. Above a particular trade level, transport service suppliers find it profit-maximizing to invest in an advanced transport technology, which lowers their marginal costs and as a consequence, equilibrium transport prices. Transport costs thus vary with two characteristics: with the distance between two locations and with the endogenous decision to invest in a more efficient technology which is driven, in turn, by the bilateral export level. A simulation exercise reveals that ignoring the effect of the investment decision on transport costs biases empirical results. The empirical estimations rely on newly collected transport price data from United Parcel Service (UPS). We apply an instrumental variable (IV) estimator to account for the endogeneity of the investment decision. Our results confirm that transport prices are influenced by both the distance and the level of exports between two countries. We find that trade partners with 10% more exports enjoy 0.8% lower transport prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Joern Kleinert & Julia Spies, 2011. "Endogenous Transport Costs in International Trade," IAW Discussion Papers 74, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaw:iawdip:74
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    File URL: http://www.iaw.edu/RePEc/iaw/pdf/iaw_dp_74.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gabor Bekes & Lionel Fontagne & Murakozy Balazs & Vincent Vicard, 2012. "How frequently firms export? Evidence from France," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1217, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    2. Takauchi, Kazuhiro, 2015. "Endogenous transport price and international R&D rivalry," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 36-43.
    3. Fabien Candau & Florent Deisting & Julie Schlick, 2017. "How Income and Crowding Effects Influence the World Market for French Wines," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 963-977, May.
    4. Lugovskyy, Oleksandr & Skiba, Alexandre, 2014. "Effect of distance on trade under slope heterogeneity and cross-correlated effects," Economics Discussion Papers 2014-30, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Gábor Békés & Lionel Fontagné & Balázs Muraközy & Vincent Vicard, 2017. "Shipment frequency of exporters and demand uncertainty," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 153(4), pages 779-807, November.
    6. Gabor Békés & Lionel Fontagné & Balazs Murakozy & Vincent Vicard, 2015. "Shipment frequency of exporters and demand uncertainty: An inventory management approach," Working Papers hal-01315615, HAL.
    7. Dominik Boddin & Frank Stähler, 2018. "The Organization of International Trade," CESifo Working Paper Series 7378, CESifo.
    8. David von Below & Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2016. "The Trade Consequences of Pricey Oil," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 64(2), pages 303-318, June.
    9. Zheng, Han & Fujii, Daisuke, 2021. "Nonlinear Pricing in the Transport Industry and the Gains from Trade," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-112, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    10. Takauchi, Kazuhiro, 2015. "Strategic export policy, monopoly carrier, and product differentiation," MPRA Paper 66003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Fabien Candau & Florent Deisting & Julie Schlick, 2017. "How Income and Crowding Effects Influence the World Market for French Wines," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 963-977, May.
    12. Zheng, Han, 2022. "Price Discrimination in the Transport Industry and the Gains from Trade," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-123, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    13. David von Below & Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2016. "The Trade Consequences of Pricey Oil," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 64(2), pages 303-318, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Distance; endogenous transport costs;

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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