The Effects of Transit Systems on International Trade

Carballo, Jerónimo; Graziano, Alejandro G.; Schaur, Georg; Martincus, Christian Volpe

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate the trade effects of a transit system upgrading that streamlines border processing in developing countries. Our empirical approach combines transaction-level export data from El Salvador with unique data that distinguishes export flows that were processed on the transit system. Our results indicate that the new transit system lowered regulatory border costs and raised exports. At the low end, our back-of-the-envelope estimate of the return to investment is US$ 3-to-1. This evidence informs a policy covered by the 2013 WTO Agreement of Trade Facilitation.

Citation

Carballo, J., Graziano, A. G., Schaur, G., & Martincus, C. V. (2024). The Effects of Transit Systems on International Trade. Review of Economics and Statistics, 106(4), 1083-1098. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01189

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 3, 2022
• Online Publication Date: May 12, 2022
• Publication Date: Jul 8, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 13, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 21, 2022
• Journal: The Review of Economics and Statistics
• Print ISSN: 0034-6535
• Electronic ISSN: 1530-9142
• Publisher: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press (MIT Press)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 106
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1083-1098
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01189
• Keywords: Economics and Econometrics; Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/12326143
• Publisher URL: https://direct.mit.edu/rest/article-abstract/doi/10.1162/rest_a_01189/111187/The-Effects-of-Transit-Systems-on-International?redirectedFrom=fulltext