•  
  •  
 

ORCID

Daria Taglioni 0000-0003-4973-2053

Keywords

Value chains; parts and components trade; gravity; bilateral flows

Abstract

Trade is measured on a gross sales basis while GDP is measured on a net sales basis, i.e. value added. The rapid internationalisation of production in the last two decades has meant that gross trade flows are increasingly unrepresentative of the value-added flows. This fact has important implications for the estimation of the gravity equation. We present empirical evidence that the standard gravity equation performs poorly by some measures when it is applied to bilateral flows where the parts and components trade is important. We also provide a simple theoretical foundation for a modified gravity equation that is suited to explaining trade where international supply chains are important.

Acknowledgments

In this paper we present empirical evidence that the standard gravity model performs poorly by some measures when it is applied to bilateral flows where the parts and components trade is important. The paper also provides a simple theoretical foundation for a modified gravity equation that is suited to explaining trade where international supply chains are important. Finally we suggest ways in which the theoretical model can be implemented empirically.

First Page

61

Last Page

82

Page Count

22

Received Date

25 May 2014

Revised Date

31 July 2014

Accept Date

29 October 2014

Online Available Date

19 November 2014

DOI

10.7172/2353-6845.jbfe.2014.2.3

JEL Code

F01; F10

Publisher

University of Warsaw

Share

COinS