World trade evolves at two margins. Where a bilateral trading relationship already exists it may increase through time (intensive margin). But trade may also increase if a trading bilateral relationship is newly established between countries that have not traded with each other in the past...

The world economy in the last two decades is clearly marked by the integration of emerging countries in the international division of labor. To better understand the "globalization" effect, it is helpful to analyze the pattern and structure of world trade volume in the past, in order to draw...