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A Measurement of Aggregate Trade Restrictions and Their Economic Effects

CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP16919

81 Pages Posted: 4 Feb 2022

See all articles by Julia Estefania Flores

Julia Estefania Flores

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Davide Furceri

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Swarnali Ahmed Hannan

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Jonathan D. Ostry

Georgetown University; International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Andrew Kenan Rose

University of California - Haas School of Business; NUS Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: January 2022

Abstract

We develop a new Measure of Aggregate Trade Restrictions (MATR) using data from the IMF's Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions. MATR is an empirical measure of how restrictive official government policy is towards the international flow of goods and services. MATR is simple, ad hoc, plausible, quantitative, easily updated, based solely on policy-relevant measures of trade policy, and covers an unbalanced sample of up to 157 countries annually between 1949 and 2019. MATR is strongly correlated with, but more comprehensive than, existing measures of openness and trade policy existing measures. We use MATR to show that trade restrictions are harmful for the economy and lead to significant contractions in output.

Keywords: annual, data, empirical, non-tariff barriers, panel, policy, protection, tariffs

JEL Classification: F13, F15

Suggested Citation

Estefania Flores, Julia and Furceri, Davide and Ahmed Hannan, Swarnali and Ostry, Jonathan D. and Rose, Andrew Kenan and Rose, Andrew Kenan, A Measurement of Aggregate Trade Restrictions and Their Economic Effects (January 2022). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP16919, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4026822

Julia Estefania Flores (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Davide Furceri

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Swarnali Ahmed Hannan

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Jonathan D. Ostry

Georgetown University ( email )

Washington, DC 20057
United States

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Andrew Kenan Rose

NUS Business School ( email )

15 Kent Ridge Dr
Singapore, 119245
Singapore

University of California - Haas School of Business ( email )

Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
510-642-6609 (Phone)
510-642-4700 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/arose

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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