Trade Facilitation and Economic Development : Measuring the Impact

Wilson, John S. ; Mann, Catherine L. ; Otsuki, Tsunehiro

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: TRADE FACILITATION;    ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT;    GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT;    PORT FACILITIES;    CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2988
RP-ID  :  WPS2988

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 authors analyze the relationshipbetween trade facilitation, trade flows, and GDP per capitain the Asia-Pacific region for the goods sector. They defineand measure trade facilitation using four broad indicators.These are constructed using country-specific data for portefficiency, customs environment, regulatory environment, andelectronic-business usage. They estimate the relationshipbetween these indicators and trade flows using a gravitymodel. The model includes tariffs and other standardvariables. The authors find that enhanced port efficiencyhas a large and positive effect on trade. Regulatorybarriers deter trade. The results also suggest thatimprovements in customs and greater electronic-business usesignificantly expands trade, but to a lesser degree than theeffect of ports or regulations. The authors then estimatethe benefits of specific trade facilitation efforts byquantifying differential improvement by members of the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in these four areas.Based on a scenario in which APEC members below averageimprove capacity halfway to the average for all members, theauthors find that intra-APEC trade could increase by $254billion. This represents approximately a 21 percent increasein intra-APEC trade flows, about half coming from improvedport efficiencies in the region. Using Dollar andKraay's estimate of the effect of trade on per capitaGDP, these improvements in trade facilitation suggest anincrease in APEC average per capita GDP of 4.3 percent.