A Practical Guide to Trade Policy Analysis What is A Practical Guide to Trade Policy Analysis? A Practical Guide to Trade Policy Analysis aims to help researchers and policymakers update their knowledge of quantitative economic methods and data sources for trade policy analysis. Using this guide The guide explains analytical techniques, reviews the data necessary for analysis and includes illustrative applications and exercises. An accompanying DVD contains datasets and programme command files required for the exercises. Find out more Website: http://vi.org/tpa Contents Contributing authors and acknowledgements 3 Disclaimer 4 Foreword 5 Introduction 7 CHAPTER 1: Analyzing trade flows 11 A.
Overview and learning objectives 13 B. Exercises 54 CHAPTER 2: Quantifying trade policy 61 A. Overview and learning objectives 63 B. Exercises 93 CHAPTER 3: Analyzing bilateral trade using the gravity equation 101 A.
Overview and learning objectives 103 B. Exercises 131 1 CHAPTER 4: Partial-equilibrium trade-policy simulation 137 A. Overview and learning objectives 139 B. Exercises 172 CHAPTER 5: General equilibrium 179 A.
Overview and learning objectives 181 B. Application 200 CHAPTER 6: Analyzing the distributional effects of trade policies 209 A. Overview and learning objectives 211 B. Exercise 229 2 Contributing authors Marc Bacchetta Economic Research and Statistics Division, World Trade Organization Cosimo Beverelli Economic Research and Statistics Division, World Trade Organization Olivier Cadot University of Lausanne, World Bank and Centre for Economic Policy Research Marco Fugazza International Trade in Goods and Services and Commodities Division, UNCTAD Jean-Marie Grether University of Neuchâtel Matthias Helble Economic and Regulatory Affairs Directorate, International Bureau, Universal Postal Union Alessandro Nicita International Trade in Goods and Services and Commodities Division, UNCTAD Roberta Piermartini Economic Research and Statistics Division, World Trade Organization Acknowledgements The authors would like to extend their thanks to Patrick Low (WTO) and Vlasta Macku (UNCTAD Virtual Institute) for launching and supporting the project.
They also wish to thank the staff of the Virtual Institute for organizing two workshops in which the material developed for this volume was presented. This material was also presented at a workshop organized as part of the WTO Chairs Programme at the University of Chile. The interaction with the participants of these workshops was very helpful in improving the content of this book. Thanks also go to Madina Kukenova and José- Antonio Monteiro who provided valuable research assistance and Anne-Celia Disdier and Susana Olivares (UNCTAD Virtual Institute) for helpful comments.
The production of this book was managed by Anthony Martin (WTO) and Serge Marin-Pache (WTO). The website and DVD were developed by Susana Olivares. 3 Disclaimer The designations employed in UNCTAD and WTO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development or the World Trade Organization concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development or the World Trade Organization of the opinions expressed.
Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development or the World Trade Organization, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. 4 Foreword This book is the outcome of joint work by the Secretariats of UNCTAD and the WTO. Its six chap- ters were written collaboratively by academics and staff of the two organizations. The volume aims to help researchers and policy-makers expand their knowledge of quantitative economic methods and data sources for trade policy analysis.
The need for the book is based on the belief that good policy needs to be backed by good analysis. By bringing together the most widely used approaches for trade policy analysis in a single volume, the book allows the reader to compare methodologies and to select the best-suited to address the issues of today. The most innovative feature of the book is that it combines detailed explanations of analytical tech- niques with a guide to the data necessary to undertake analysis and accompanying tutorials in the form of exercises. This approach allows readers of the publication to follow the analytical process step by step.
Although the presentations in this volume are mostly aimed at first-time practitioners, some of the most recent advances in quantitative methods are also covered. This book has been developed in response to requests from a number of research institutions and universities in developing countries for training on trade policy analysis. Despite the growing use of quantitative economics in policy making, no existing publications directly address the full range of practical questions covered here. These include matters as simple as where to find the best trade and tariff data and how to develop a country’s basic statistics on trade.
Guidance is also provided on more complicated issues, such as the choice of the best analytical tools for answering questions ranging from the economic impact of membership of the WTO and preferential trade agreements to how trade will affect income distribution within a country. Although quantitative analysis cannot provide all the answers, it can help to give direction to the process of policy formulation and to ensure that choices are based on detailed knowledge of underlying realities. We commend this guide to those engaged in creating trade policy and we hope that by contributing to the understanding of state-of-the-art tools for policy analysis, this guide will improve the quality of trade policy-making and contribute to a more level playing field in trade relations. Pascal Lamy Supachai Panitchpakdi WTO Director-General UNCTAD Secretary-General 5 INTRODUCTION I Supporting trade policy-making with applied analysis Quantitative and detailed trade policy information and analysis are more necessary now than they have ever been.
In recent years, globalization and, more specifically, trade opening have become increasingly contentious. Questions have been asked about whether the gains from trade exceed the costs of trade. Concerns regarding the distributional consequences of trade reforms have also been expressed. It is, therefore, important for policy-makers and other trade policy stakeholders to have access to detailed, reliable information and analysis on the effects of trade policies, as this information is needed at different stages of the policy-making process.
During the early stages of the process, it is used to assess and compare the effects of various strategies and to develop a proposal. When the proposal goes through the political approval process, this information is required in order to be able to conduct a policy dialogue with all stakeholders. Finally, information and analysis are necessary for the implementation of the measures. General principles are not enough.
Multilateral market access negotiations focus on tariff commitments, but commitments to reduce so-called bound rates may or may not affect the tariff rates that a country actually applies to imports, depending on the gap between the bound and the applied rate. A careful examination of the proposals is thus necessary to assess the effect of tariff commitments on market access. Similarly, the effect of preferential trade agreements on trade and welfare depends on the relative size of trade creation and trade deviation effects. Policy-makers preparing to sign a preferential trade agreement should have access to an assessment of the likely effect of the agreement, or at least to analyses of previous relevant experiences.
While the effects of tariff changes are relatively straightforward, the effects of non-tariff measures depend on the specific measure and can vary substantially depending on the circumstances. It is a long way from the tariffs and quotas contained in international economics textbooks to the jungle of real world tariffs and non-tariff measures, and analyzing the effects of changing a tariff in an undistorted textbook market is very different from responding to the request of a minister who envisages opening domestic markets and who wants to know how this will affect income distribution. Thus, the objective of this book is to guide economists with an interest in the applied analysis of trade and trade policies towards the main sources of data and the most useful tools available to analyse real world trade and trade policies. The book starts with a discussion of the quantification of trade flows and trade policies.
Quantifying trade flows and trade policies is useful as it allows us to describe, compare or follow the evolution of policies between sectors or countries or over time. It is also useful as it provides indispensable input into the modelling exercises presented in the other chapters. This discussion is followed by a 7 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO TRADE POLICY ANALYSIS presentation of gravity models. These are useful for understanding the determinants and patterns of trade and for assessing the trade effects of certain trade policies, such as WTO accessions or the signing of preferential trade agreements.
Finally, a number of simulation methodologies, which can be used to “predict” the effects of trade and trade-related policies on trade flows, on welfare, and on the distribution of income, are presented. II Choosing a methodology The key question that a researcher is faced with when asked to assess the effects of a given policy measure is deciding which methodological approach is best suited to answer the question given existing constraints. At this stage, dialogue between researchers and policy stakeholders is crucial as, depending on the circumstances, researchers may help policy-makers to determine relevant questions and to guide the choice of appropriate methodologies. The choice of a methodology is not necessarily straightforward.
It involves choosing between descriptive statistics and modelling approaches, between econometric estimation and simulation, between ex ante and ex post approaches, between partial and general equilibrium. Ex ante simulation involves projecting the effects of a policy change onto a set of economic variables of interest, while ex post approaches use historical data to conduct an analysis of the effects of past trade policy. The ex ante approach is typically used to answer “what if” questions. Ex-post approaches, however, can also answer “what if” questions under the assumption that past relations continue to be relevant.
Indeed, this assumption underlies approaches that use estimated parameters for simulation. Partial equilibrium analysis focuses on one or multiple specific markets or products, ignoring the link between factor incomes and expenditures, while general equilibrium explicitly accounts for all the links between sectors of an economy – households, firms, governments and the rest of the world. In econometric models, parameter values are estimated using statistical techniques and they come with confidence intervals. In simulation models, behavioural parameters are typically drawn from a variety of sources, while other parameters are chosen so that the model is able to reproduce exactly the data of a reference year (calibration).
In principle, the question should dictate the choice of a methodology. For example, computable general equilibrium (CGE) seems to be the most appropriate methodology for an ex ante assessment of the effect of proposals tabled as part of multilateral market access negotiations. In reality, however, the choice is subject to various constraints. First, methodologies differ significantly with regard to the time and resources they require.
Typically, building a CGE model takes a long time and requires a considerable amount of data. Running regressions require sufficient time series or cross sections of data, while the calibration of a partial equilibrium model only requires data for one year. There are, however, relatively important sunk costs and thus large economies of scale and/or scope. Once a CGE has been constructed, it can be used to answer various questions without much additional cost.
More generally, familiarity with certain methodologies or institutional constraints could dictate the use of certain approaches. Methodologies can also be combined to answer a given question.
