Shaky roads and trembling exports: Assessing the trade effects of domestic infrastructure using a natural experiment

Christian Volpe Martincus and Juan Blyde

Journal of International Economics, 2013, vol. 90, issue 1, 148-161

Abstract: Our knowledge of the trade effects of domestic infrastructure is very limited. The reason is twofold. First, data needed to examine these effects are not readily available. Second, identifying such effects requires properly addressing potential endogeneity problems affecting the relationship between internal infrastructure and trade. In this paper, we overcome these limitations by combining firm-level export data with detailed geo-referenced information on Chile and by exploiting the earthquake that took place in this country in 2010 as an exogenous source of variation in available infrastructure and thereby in transport costs. We find that diminished transportation infrastructure had a significant negative impact on firms' exports.

Keywords: Firms; Transport infrastructure; Exports; Chile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 F10 F14 H54 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (88)

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Working Paper: Shaky Roads and Trembling Exports: Assessing the Trade Effects of Domestic Infrastructure Using a Natural Experiment (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:inecon:v:90:y:2013:i:1:p:148-161

DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2012.11.001

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