Income-Related Biases in International Trade : What Do Trademark Registration Data Tell Us?

Economists have long recognized that richer countries trade more among themselves than with poorer economies due to a closer match of exporter supply structures and importer preferences. In the literature, the closeness of supply and demand has traditionally been determined by the quality of products-as expressed in the so-called Linder hypothesis. This paper examines an extension of the Linder hypothesis by also considering the extent of horizontal product differentiation as another determinant of the closeness of supply and demand. The empirical analysis employs information on international trademark registrations to test whether richer countries import more from countries whose exports are of higher quality and exhibit a greater degree of product differentiation. The results lend support to the hypothesis in most consumer goods sectors but not in intermediate goods sectors.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fink, Carsten, Smarzynska Javorcik, Beata, Spatareanu, Mariana
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2003-10
Subjects:ADVERTISING, APPAREL, BILATERAL TRADE, BRAND NAMES, BRANDS, COAL, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, COMPETITIVE MARKETS, COMPETITIVENESS, CONSUMER PREFERENCES, CONSUMERS, CONSUMPTION LEVELS, COUNTRY MARKETS, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DOMESTIC PRODUCTS, ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMICS RESEARCH, ECONOMISTS, ELASTICITIES, ELASTICITY, ELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTION, EMERGING MARKETS, EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS, EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE, EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, ENDOGENOUS VARIABLES, EQUILIBRIUM, EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS, EXPORT MARKETS, EXPORTERS, EXPORTS, FIXED COSTS, FOREIGN MARKET, FOREIGN MARKETS, FOREIGN TRADE, GDP, GDP PER CAPITA, GRAVITY EQUATION, GRAVITY MODEL, HUMAN CAPITAL, IMPERFECT COMPETITION, IMPORT MARKETS, IMPORTS, INCOME, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCREASING RETURNS, INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE, INDUSTRY TRADE, INFORMATION ASYMMETRIES, INTERMEDIATE GOODS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, LABOR FORCE, MARKET ACCESS, MARKET ENTRY, MARKET FORCES, MARKET MECHANISM, MARKET SHARES, MARKET STRUCTURE, MARKETING, MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES, MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION, PER CAPITA INCOME, PERFECT COMPETITION, POLITICAL ECONOMY, PREFERENTIAL TRADE, PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENTS, PRESENT VALUE, PRICE COMPETITION, PRICE CONTROL, PRODUCERS, PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION, PRODUCT QUALITY, REGIONALIZATION, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, STOCKS, TARIFF BARRIERS, TRADE BARRIERS, TRADE COSTS, TRADE FLOWS, TRADE MODELS, TRADE MORE, TRADE PATTERNS, TRADEMARKS, TRANSPORT COSTS, UTILITY FUNCTION, VALUE OF EXPORTS, VALUE OF TRADE INTERNATIONAL TRADE, EXPORT VOLUME, PRODUCT SUBSTITUTION, SUPPLY & DEMAND, TRADEMARK LICENCES, CONSUMER GOODS, VALUE OF TRADE,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/10/2630741/income-related-biases-international-trade-trademark-registration-data-tell
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/18040
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Summary:Economists have long recognized that richer countries trade more among themselves than with poorer economies due to a closer match of exporter supply structures and importer preferences. In the literature, the closeness of supply and demand has traditionally been determined by the quality of products-as expressed in the so-called Linder hypothesis. This paper examines an extension of the Linder hypothesis by also considering the extent of horizontal product differentiation as another determinant of the closeness of supply and demand. The empirical analysis employs information on international trademark registrations to test whether richer countries import more from countries whose exports are of higher quality and exhibit a greater degree of product differentiation. The results lend support to the hypothesis in most consumer goods sectors but not in intermediate goods sectors.