Bias in estimating border- and distance-related trade costs: Insights from an oligopoly model

C-Tier
Journal: Economics Letters
Year: 2015
Volume: 126
Issue: C
Pages: 147-149

Authors (3)

Coşar, A. Kerem (not in RePEc) Grieco, Paul L.E. (not in RePEc) Tintelnot, Felix (University of Chicago)

Score contribution per author:

0.335 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

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

Abstract

Regressions of price differences between locations in different countries without controlling for the local market structure and the location of origin will lead to a biased estimate of the impact of national boundaries. We demonstrate that non-classical measurement error in distance and unaccounted mark-up differences across countries are responsible for these biases. In a quantitative exercise based on our previous work (Coşar et al., 2014), we show that the estimated border effect with price difference regressions overstates the true border effect by a factor of two or more.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:ecolet:v:126:y:2015:i:c:p:147-149
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25