## North-South Trade: Is Africa Unusual?

_IMF Working Papers, June 1, 1998_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: David T. Coe, Willy A Hoffmaister
- Published: June 1, 1998
- Series: IMF Working Papers

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### Research question and methodology
- Estimates a gravity model to assess whether Africa’s bilateral trade with industrial countries is “unusual” compared with other developing country regions.
- Controls and covariates included in the analysis:
  - Economic size
  - Geographical distance
  - Population
  - Access to the sea
  - Composition of exports
  - Linguistic ties with industrial countries
  - Trade policies

### Main findings
- The unusually low level of African trade with industrial countries is explained by:
  - Economic size
  - Geographical distance
  - Population
- After controlling for the factors listed above, Africa’s bilateral trade is not unusually low relative to other developing regions.
- On average, the typical African country tends to “overtrade” compared with developing countries in other regions.
- The degree to which Africa overtrades has steadily declined over the past two-and-one-half decades.

### Robustness and interpretation
- The main result (that observable factors explain Africa’s low trade levels) holds after including controls for:
  - Access to the sea
  - Composition of exports
  - Linguistic ties with industrial countries
  - Trade policies

### Key statistics and publication metadata extracted from the source
- Pages: 27
- Volume: 1998
- Issue: 094
- Series: Working Paper No. 1998/094
- Stock No: WPIEA0941998
- ISBN: 9781451851694
- ISSN: 1018-5941
- Date: June 1, 1998
- Authors: David T. Coe, Willy A Hoffmaister

*Source: North-South Trade: Is Africa Unusual? — David T. Coe; Willy A Hoffmaister; June 1, 1998 (IMF Working Papers, Working Paper No. 1998/094)*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2016/12/30/north-south-trade-is-africa-unusual-2657_