This article combines data on trade flows with a novel construction of the distribution of skill in the population, based on the results from the International Adult Literacy Survey of the OECD, to evaluate the empirical importance of the distribution of talent as a determinant of the sectoral...

After the EU accession of the Visegrad countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) in 2004 one of the most remarkable developments was a sudden upturn in mutual trade of this region's countries. In 2007 the value of aggregate intra-Visegrad trade was two and a half times higher...

Do trade costs have consequences other than for the volume of international trade? In this paper we investigate whether countries’ trade costs act like other national endowments by affecting the composition of countries’ exports. Using an econometric approach that controls for endogeneity by...

Do trade costs have consequences other than on the volume of international trade? In this paper we investigate whether countries’ trade costs act like other national endowments by affecting the composition of countries’ exports. Using an econometric approach that controls for endogeneity by...

Do trade costs have consequences other than on the volume of international trade? In this paper we investigate whether countries’ trade costs act like other national endowments by affecting the composition of countries’ exports. Using an econometric approach that controls for endogeneity by...

World Bank demographic and country characteristic statistics identify 16 small landlocked countries that are similar to Lesotho. The authors attempt to determine what useful policy information can be derived from the recent trade performance of these "comparators." Among questions they pose are...

Using only transition period data, this paper analyses revealed comparative advantages (RCAs) and specialisations to identify the 3-digit SITC (Standard International Trade Classification) sectors in which the EU's trade liberalisation with Eastern European applicants may represent opportunities...

This paper investigates how economies of scope in multi-product firms interact with comparative advantage in determining the effect of trade liberalization on resource reallocation, using Belgian manufacturing firm- and firm-product-level data over the period 1997-2007. We first provide evidence...