Bill of Lading Data in International Trade Research with an Application to the COVID-19 Pandemic

40 Pages Posted: 25 Oct 2021

See all articles by Aaron Flaaen

Aaron Flaaen

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Flora Haberkorn

Independent

Logan T. Lewis

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Anderson Monken

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Justin R. Pierce

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Rosemary Rhodes

Independent

Madeleine Yi

Independent

Date Written: October, 2021

Abstract

We evaluate high-frequency bill of lading data for its suitability in international trade research. These data offer many advantages over both other publicly accessible official trade data and confidential datasets, but they also have clear drawbacks. We provide a comprehensive overview for potential researchers to understand these strengths and weaknesses as these data become more widely available. Drawing on the strengths of the data, we analyze three aspects of trade during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we show how the high-frequency data capture features of the within-month collapse of trade between the United States and India that are not observable in official monthly data. Second, we demonstrate how U.S. buyers shifted their purchases across suppliers over time during the recovery. And third, we show how the data can be used to measure vessel delivery bottlenecks in near real time.

Keywords: Bill of lading, COVID-19 trade, Firm-level trade

JEL Classification: C81, F14, F17

Suggested Citation

Flaaen, Aaron and Haberkorn, Flora and Lewis, Logan T. and Monken, Anderson and Pierce, Justin R. and Rhodes, Rosemary and Yi, Madeleine, Bill of Lading Data in International Trade Research with an Application to the COVID-19 Pandemic (October, 2021). FEDS Working Paper No. 2021-66, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3948811 or http://dx.doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2021.066

Aaron Flaaen (Contact Author)

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551
United States
202-973-7338 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/aaron-b-flaaen.htm

Flora Haberkorn

Independent

Logan T. Lewis

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551
United States

Anderson Monken

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551
United States

Justin R. Pierce

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.justinrpierce.com/

Rosemary Rhodes

Independent

Madeleine Yi

Independent

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