EU Enlargement and the New Goods Margin in Austrian Trade

Using the methodology developed in Kehoe and Ruhl (2013), I measure the change in the extensive, or new goods, margin of trade between Austria and the ten new entrants to the European Union in 2004. On average, the new goods account for 42% of the bilateral trade flow after enlargement. A time series measure shows growth in the new goods margin coincides with the 2004 enlargement, which provides evidence on the importance of the role played by the new goods margin in the growth in trade following a trade liberalization.