IMF Working Papers

The Composition and Cyclical Behavior of Trade Flows in Emerging Economies

By Reinout De Bock

February 1, 2010

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Reinout De Bock. The Composition and Cyclical Behavior of Trade Flows in Emerging Economies, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2010) accessed December 2, 2024
Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

Trade flows data show that the composition and cyclical properties of imports are similar in developed economies and emerging markets (EM) but this is not the case for exports. Unlike developed economies, (i) EM export few or only a selective set of capital goods and (ii) capital good and overall exports tend to be acyclical. The lack of procyclicality in exports drives the strong countercyclicality of EM trade balances observed in previous studies. A quantitative exercise demonstrates how the standard small open economy business cycle model can be improved for EM by incorporating these features.

Subject: Consumption, Exports, Imports, Labor, Trade balance

Keywords: WP

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    32

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2010/046

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2010046

  • ISBN:

    9781451963106

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941