An empirical study of the effects of geographic distance and institutional barriers on the patterns of international trade

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Erskine Smith Walther (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Thomas Leary

Abstract: The major theoretical and empirical studies of international trade have paid relatively little attention to the influences of distance and protectionist barriers on the global pattern of trade. It is the contention of this study that valuable insights are to be obtained from an understanding of the determinates of international trade patterns, and that the variables of distance and protectionist barriers to trade are important determinates of international trade patterns. The method of investigation chosen is an ordinary least squares multiple regression model. The sixty-one nation study consists of three measures of trade intensity: those of import, export, and total trade volume as a percentage of national incomes, four measures of distance and a proxy measure of protectionist barriers to trade. Each trade intensity measure is regressed in turn against each distance measure and the appropriate protectionist barrier variable, if any. This produces four sets (one set for each distance measure) of three multiple regression equations (one equation for each trade Intensity measure) for each of the seven nations selected for analysis. The statistical tests of the estimated coefficients and of the multiple regression equations consistently reveal high levels of significance. The results of the study support the contention that the variables of distance and protectionist barriers are important in determining the patterns of international trade.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1975
Subjects
International trade
Protectionism

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