Aggregation and the Gravity Equation

Stephen Redding and David Weinstein

No 13459, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: One of the most successful empirical relationships in international trade is the gravity equation, which relates bilateral trade flows between an origin and destination to bilateral trade frictions, origin characteristics, and destination characteristics. A key decision for researchers in estimating this relationship is the level of aggregation, since the gravity equation is log linear, whereas aggregation involves summing the level rather than the log level of trade flows. In this paper, we derive an exact Jensen's inequality correction term for the gravity equation in a nested constant elasticity of substitution (CES) import demand system, such that a log-linear gravity equation holds exactly for each nest of this demand system. We use this result to decompose the effect of distance on bilateral trade in the aggregate gravity equation into the contribution of a number of different terms from sectoral gravity equations. We show that changes in sectoral composition make a quantitatively relevant contribution towards the aggregate effect of distance, particularly for more disaggregated definitions of sectors.

Keywords: Gravity equation; Trade; Aggregation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C43 F10 F14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Journal Article: Aggregation and the Gravity Equation (2019)
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Working Paper: Aggregation and the gravity equation (2019)
Working Paper: Aggregation and the Gravity Equation (2019)
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