Income-Related Biases in International Trade : What Do Trademark Registration Data Tell Us?
Economists have long recognized that richer countries trade more among themselves than with poorer economies due to a closer match of exporter supply structures and importer preferences. In the literature, the closeness of supply and demand has tra...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/10/2630741/income-related-biases-international-trade-trademark-registration-data-tell http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18040 |
| Summary: | Economists have long recognized that
richer countries trade more among themselves than with
poorer economies due to a closer match of exporter supply
structures and importer preferences. In the literature, the
closeness of supply and demand has traditionally been
determined by the quality of products-as expressed in the
so-called Linder hypothesis. This paper examines an
extension of the Linder hypothesis by also considering the
extent of horizontal product differentiation as another
determinant of the closeness of supply and demand. The
empirical analysis employs information on international
trademark registrations to test whether richer countries
import more from countries whose exports are of higher
quality and exhibit a greater degree of product
differentiation. The results lend support to the hypothesis
in most consumer goods sectors but not in intermediate goods sectors. |
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