There has been an extensive discussion on the applicability of Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) to trade. Here, we are going to analyse again the performance of PPML but in the light of a bimodal distribution; in addition, we also explicitly account for excess zeros. Simulations are...

The emergence of 'New New Trade Theory' fundamentally changed the thinking of international trade, and it is now at the heart of science. Here, we are going to take up the discussion of Golpinath et al. [2007], looking at whether 'New New Trade Theory' is applicable to agriculture. Revisiting...

French (2011) can analytically show that the standard Anderson and van Wincoop (2003) gravity trade model is only correctly specified for disaggregate data; gravity trade model analysis should be done at product level and then estimation results should be reaggregated. If however gravity trade...

Index-basierte Termingeschäfte auf dem Nahrungsmittelmarkt werden kritisiert, weil sie für rasante Preissteigerungen und Hungerrevolten verantwortlich gemacht werden. Die Autoren haben die Literatur zum Nahrungsmittelmarkt ausgewertet und die realwirtschaftlichen Ursachen für die...

In this paper, we are going to reconsider the standard Viner Model [Viner, 1950] however under the premise of firm heterogeneity. By means of a graphical analysis we show that a consideration of the degree of firm heterogeneity is important for an evaluation of a preferential trade agreement....

Recently, discussion about the appropriate estimation of gravity trade models has started in agriculture. Here, we are going to review recent developments in the literature. It appears that fixed effects Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood is not only the only consistent estimator [Santos Silva...

With the extension of the standard Melitz Model from Ahn et al. [2011], the important role of intermediaries in facilitating trade is now recognized. In this paper, we are going to expand Chaney's [2008] approach to an Intermediate Melitz Model. By researching if Chaney's results still apply for...

An evaluation of 35 research papers into the impact of financial speculation on agricultural commodities markets has revealed: The vast majority of studies did not confirm the concerns that prevail in public discourse. The current state of knowledge indicates only a few, and weak, findings that...