Because international trade theory has not provided an unambiguous prediction on the impact of trade on growth, a vast literature tried to identify the relationship empirically. After summarizing the influential large country case studies of the 1970s and early 1980s - which showed the folly of...

This paper addresses the mechanisms by which trade openness affects growth volatility. Using a diverse set of export concentration measures, we present strong evidence pointing to an important role for export diversification in conditioning the effect of trade openness on growth volatility....

Does trade openness cause higher GDP per capita? Since the seminal instrumental variables (IV) estimates of Frankel and Romer [F&R](1999) important doubts have surfaced. Is the correlation spurious and driven by omitted geographical and institutional variables? In this paper, we generalize F&R's...

Economists have long debated whether the real exchange rate (RER) has a significant impact on export performance and output growth. Some claim that export performance depends only on nonprice competition and the RER is irrelevant to long-run growth, whereas others argue that the RER is a key...

This work shows the asymmetric effect of the reduction in transportation costs across different sectors in the process of the Great Divergence. Specifically, the analysis indicates that reductions in transportation costs of industrial goods enhance convergence of the growth rates of trading...

The current study aims to analyze the factors influencing ASEAN economic growth and integration. Specifically, the variables of inter-regional trade, human resource development, and corruption were investigated in six lower-middle-income countries from 1996 to 2019 through Driscoll and Kraay's,...

This contribution provides evidence for the hypothesis that trade increases growth through its curbing effect on capital taxes. The analysed trade-growth channel includes a negative impact of openness on corporate taxes and a negative effect of taxes on growth. The paper explores the two steps...