Trade Costs, Market Integration, and Macroeconomic Volatility
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Summary:
This paper examines the effects of trade costs on macroeconomic volatility. We first construct a dynamic, two-country general equilibrium model, where the degree of market integration depends directly on trade costs (transport costs, tariffs, etc.). The model is a extension of Obstfeld and Rogoff (1995). Naturally, a reduction in trade costs leads to more market integration, as the relative price of foreign goods falls and households increase their consumption of imported goods. In addition, with more market integration, the model predicts that the variability of the real exchange rate should fall, while the variability of the trade balance should increase. Trade costs have ambiguous effects on the volatility of other macro variables, such as income and consumption. Finally, we present some empirical findings that provide mixed support for the model's predictions.
Series:
Working Paper No. 2003/054
Subject:
Consumption Foreign exchange International trade National accounts Real exchange rates Tariffs Taxes Trade balance Transportation
Frequency:
Quarterly
English
Publication Date:
March 1, 2003
ISBN/ISSN:
9781451847536/1018-5941
Stock No:
WPIEA0542003
Pages:
49
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