The Round Trip Effect: Endogenous Transport Costs and International Trade

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Year: 2022
Volume: 14
Issue: 4
Pages: 127-66

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Container ships travel between a fixed set of origins and destinations in round trips, inducing a negative correlation in their freight rates. I study the implications of this round trip effect on international trade and trade policy. I identify this effect and develop an instrument using it to estimate the impact of transport costs on trade. I simulate counterfactual import tariff increases in a quantitative model and quantify the importance of endogenizing transport costs with respect to this effect: an exogenous transport costs model predicts a trade balance improvement from protectionist policies, while the round trip model finds the opposite.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejapp:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:127-66
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29