Somatic distance, trust and trade

Jacques Melitz and Farid Toubal

Review of International Economics, 2019, vol. 27, issue 3, 786-802

Abstract: Somatic distance, or differences in physical appearance, proves to be extremely important in the gravity model of bilateral trade in conformity with results in other areas of economics and outside in the social sciences. This is also true independently of survey evidence about bilateral trust. These findings are obtained in a sample of the 15 members of the European Economic Area in 1996. Robustness tests also show that somatic distance, as well as co‐ancestry, has a more reliable influence on bilateral trade than the other customary cultural variables. The article finally discusses the interpretation and breadth of application of these results.

Date: 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12397

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Working Paper: Somatic Distance, Trust and Trade (2018)
Working Paper: Somatic Distance; Trust and Trade (2018)
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