Market Access Asymmetry in Food Trade

LICOS Discussion Paper No. 187/2007

32 Pages Posted: 17 Mar 2008

See all articles by Alessandro Olper

Alessandro Olper

Università degli Studi di Milano; KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS)

Valentina Raimondi

Università degli Studi di Milano

Date Written: May 2007

Abstract

Using a bilateral trade equation derived from a monopolistic competition model, we investigated market access reciprocity in food trade among the US, Canada, the EU and Japan. We explore country and industry-specific market access asymmetry through the border effect approach, re-challenging the underlying main explanations. Our findings reveal marked asymmetry in reciprocal trade openness; indeed, access to the food markets of the US and Japan appears significantly easier than reciprocal access to both Canada and, especially, the EU. Policy trade barriers, firstly in the forms of NTBs, the degree of product differentiation and 'home bias' in preferences, are all important factors in explaining border effects. Moreover, several stylized facts suggest that border effect interpretation should also be based on political economy arguments.

Keywords: gravity, market access, asymmetry, food trade, NTBs

JEL Classification: F13, F14, Q17

Suggested Citation

Olper, Alessandro and Raimondi, Valentina, Market Access Asymmetry in Food Trade (May 2007). LICOS Discussion Paper No. 187/2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1106123 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1106123

Alessandro Olper (Contact Author)

Università degli Studi di Milano ( email )

Via Celoria, 2
Milano, 20133
Italy
+390250316481 (Phone)
+390250316486 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://users.unimi.it/olper/

KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS) ( email )

Waaistraat 6 - box 3511
Leuven, 3000
Belgium

Valentina Raimondi

Università degli Studi di Milano ( email )

Via Festa del Perdono, 7
Milan, 20122
Italy

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