Estimating Trade Restrictiveness Indices

Studies of the impact of trade restrictiveness on growth, poverty, or unemployment are frequent in the academic literature. Few authors, however, provide a precise definition of what they mean by trade restrictiveness. When they do, the definition is unlikely to have tight links with trade theory. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kee, Hiau Looi, Nicita, Alessandro, Olarreaga, Marcelo
Format: Journal Article
Language:EN
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5903
Description
Summary:Studies of the impact of trade restrictiveness on growth, poverty, or unemployment are frequent in the academic literature. Few authors, however, provide a precise definition of what they mean by trade restrictiveness. When they do, the definition is unlikely to have tight links with trade theory. The objective of this article is to fill this gap by providing for 78 developing and developed countries clearly defined indicators of trade restrictiveness that are well grounded in trade theory. Results suggest that poor countries tend to have more restrictive trade policies but they also face higher trade barriers on their exports.