Product Standards, Harmonization, and Trade : Evidence from the Extensive Margin

Shepherd, Ben

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: CDI;    DIO;    ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT;    HARMONIZATION;    ID;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4390
RP-ID  :  WPS4390

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The author uses a new database of EUproduct standards in the textiles, clothing, and footwearsectors to present the first empirical evidence thatinternational standards harmonization is associated withincreased partner country export variety. A 10 percentagepoint increase in the proportion of internationallyharmonized standards is associated with a 0.2 percentincrease in partner country export variety, whereas a 10percent increase in the total number of standards isassociated with a nearly 6 percent decrease in productvariety. Although small, the harmonization elasticity isstatistically significant, and proves highly robust tosample changes and instrumental variables estimation usinginstruments motivated by political economy considerations.Moreover, it is found to be around 50 percent higher for lowincome countries, which suggests that they may beparticularly constrained in adapting products to meetmultiple standards. Numerical simulations show that thesefindings are consistent with a heterogeneous firms model oftrade in which harmonization is beneficial at the extensivemargin provided that any increases in compliance costs arenot too large.