This paper assesses the role of a larger degree of common language use between the populations of two countries on the so-called extensive product margin of trade. We focus on the overlap of products exported or imported between any pair of countries. The results suggest that the effect of...

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the political determinants of international arms transfers. We distinguish between the decision to exports arms (extensive margin) and the value of the arms exported (intensive margin). A theoretically-justified gravity model of trade augmented with...

The empirical evidence that institutional differences across countries affect bilateral trade is robust. The crucial question remains how countries can enhance trade amid these differences. In this paper, we measure the degree to which governance and institutions differ between countries as...

In previous research, we analysed the effect of technological innovation, understood as absorptive capacity, on exports by using a gravity model of trade for the year 2000 (see Márquez-Ramos and Martínez-Zarzoso, 2009). We found that the effect of technological innovation on trade varies...

This paper presents a review of recent studies that estimate the trade effects of foreign aid. It also provides new results obtained using panel data techniques to estimate the direct effects of aid on international trade, accounting for countries' participation in free trade agreements, and the...