Export Performance and Trade Facilitation Reform : Hard and Soft Infrastructure
The authors estimate the impact of aggregate indicators of "soft" and "hard" infrastructure on the export performance of developing countries. They build four new indicators for 101 countries over the period 2004-07. Estimates s...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100405094717 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3748 |
| Summary: | The authors estimate the impact of
aggregate indicators of "soft" and
"hard" infrastructure on the export performance of
developing countries. They build four new indicators for 101
countries over the period 2004-07. Estimates show that trade
facilitation reforms do improve the export performance of
developing countries. This is particularly true with
investment in physical infrastructure and regulatory reform
to improve the business environment. Moreover, the findings
provide evidence that the marginal effect of infrastructure
improvement on exports appears to be decreasing in per
capita income. In contrast, the impact of information and
communications technology on exports appears increasingly
important for richer countries. Drawing on estimates, the
authors compute illustrative exports growth for developing
countries and ad-valorem equivalents of improving each
indicator halfway to the level of the top performer in the
region. As an example, improving the quality of physical
infrastructure so that Egypt's indicator increases
half-way to the level of Tunisia would increase exports by
10.8 percent. This is equivalent to a 7.4 percent cut in
tariffs faced by Egyptian exporters across importing markets. |
|---|