Exports and Financial Shocks

39 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2010

See all articles by Mary Amiti

Mary Amiti

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

David E. Weinstein

Columbia University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 2009

Abstract

A striking feature of many financial crises is the collapse of exports relative to output. In the 2008 financial crisis, real world exports plunged 17 percent while GDP fell 5 percent. This paper examines whether the drying up of trade finance can help explain the large drops in exports relative to output. This paper is the first to establish a causal link between the health of banks providing trade finance and growth in a firm’s exports relative to its domestic sales. We overcome measurement and endogeneity issues by using a unique data set, covering the Japanese financial crises of the 1990s, which enables us to match exporters with the main bank that provides them with trade finance. Our point estimates are economically and statistically significant, suggesting that trade finance accounts for about one-third of the decline in Japanese exports in the financial crises of the 1990s.

Keywords: exports, financial crisis, financial shocks, Japan, trade finance

JEL Classification: E32, E44, F40, G21

Suggested Citation

Amiti, Mary and Weinstein, David E., Exports and Financial Shocks (December 2009). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP7590, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1533195

Mary Amiti (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of New York ( email )

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New York, NY 10045
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David E. Weinstein

Columbia University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences - Department of Economics ( email )

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212-854-6880 (Phone)
212-854-8059 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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