Working Paper: NBER ID: w5618
Authors: James E. Rauch
Abstract: A network/search view of international trade in differentiated products is proposed. It is shown that this view can explain the importance of ethnic and extended family ties in trade, the success of diversified trading intermediaries such as Japan's sogo shosha, and the ubiquity of government export promotion policies such as subsidized trade missions.
Keywords: international trade; social capital; sogo shosha; spillovers; network-search
JEL Codes: F10; F12; F14
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| social capital (ethnic and family ties) (Z13) | trade volume (F10) |
| diversified trading intermediaries (sogo shosha) (L81) | trade efficiency (F14) |
| government export promotion policies (F13) | trade flows (F10) |