This paper presents a new conceptual framework to measure sources of value-added trade by country in global production networks. With a parsimonious decomposition of gross exports that eliminates "double counting", it integrates all previous measures of vertical specialization and value-added...

This paper provides both a conceptual framework for decomposing a country's gross exports into value-added components by source and a new bilateral database on value-added trade. Our parsimonious framework integrates all previous measures of vertical specialization and value-added trade in the...

Trade globalization may affect corporate transparency via multiple channels, with potentially opposite signs. We aim to empirically disentangle these channels by tracking evolution of corporate transparency for 4061 listed firms in tradable sectors in 49 countries during 1992–2005. By using...

If trade barriers are managed by inefficient institutions, trade liberalization can lead to greater-than-expected gains. We examine Chinese textile and clothing exports before and after the removal of externally imposed quotas. Both the surge in export volumes and the decline in prices after the...

This paper generalizes the gross exports accounting framework at the country level, recently proposed by Koopman, Wang, and Wei (2014), to one that decomposes gross trade flows (for both exports and imports) at the sector, bilateral, or bilateral sector level. We overcome major technical...

The real effective exchange rate (REER) is one of the most cited statistical constructs in international macroeconomics. With the rising importance of offshoring and outsourcing, the standard measures are increasingly flawed. In addition, because different sectors within a country may...

China's exports have become increasingly sophisticated. This has generated anxiety in developed countries as the competitive pressure may be increasingly felt outside labor-intensive industries. Using product-level data on exports from different cities within China, this paper investigates the...

China's exports have become increasingly sophisticated. This has generated anxiety in developed countries as the competitive pressure may be increasingly felt outside labor-intensive industries. Using product-level data on exports from different cities within China, this paper investigates the...

Traditional explanations for indirect trade through an entrepôt have focused on savings in transport costs and on the role of specialized agents in processing and distribution. We provide an alternative perspective based on the possibility that entrepôts may facilitate tariff evasion. Using...

We empirically analyze the illicit trade in cultural property and antiques, taking advantage of different reporting incentives between source and destination countries. We thus generate a measure of illicit trafficking in these goods based on the difference between imports recorded in United...