 No double standards: Quantifying the impact of standard harmonization on tradeJulia Schmidt () and Walter Steingress Journal of International Economics, 2022, vol. 137, issue C Abstract: This paper quantifies a novel channel that contributes to greater trade integration: the release of harmonized, voluntary product standards. Standards define product characteristics that ensure compatibility, quality and consistency. Harmonized standards unify these characteristics across countries and reduce country-specific adaption costs. We create a novel database on cross-country standards and show that harmonized standards have contributed up to 13% of the growth in global trade. We build a heterogeneous firm model where harmonized standards generate scale effects and induce firms to adopt the standard. Firm-level evidence shows that only the largest firms in the top range of the size-distribution increase their export sales. These firms benefit from higher demand, charge higher prices and sell larger volumes. Keywords: International trade; Standardization; Harmonization (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:inecon:v:137:y:2022:i:c:s0022199622000514 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2022.103619 Access Statistics for this article Journal of International Economics is currently edited by Gourinchas, Pierre-Olivier and RodrÃguez-Clare, Andrés More articles in Journal of International Economics from Elsevier |
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