Arbeitspapier
Trains, Trade and Transaction Costs: How does Domestic Trade by Rail affect Market Prices of Malawi Agricultural Commodities?
We measure the impact of low cost transport by rail in Malawi on the dispersion of agricultural commodities prices across markets, by exploiting the quasi experimental design of the nearly total collapse of domestic trade by rail in January 2003, due to the destruction of a railway bridge at Rivirivi, Balaka. Market pairs connected by rail when the railway line was operational, are intervention observations. Estimations are based on monthly market prices of four agricultural commodities (maize, groundnuts, rice and beans), in 27 local markets, for the period 1998-2006. Railway transport services explain a 11% to 18% reduction in price dispersion across markets. Geographical reach of trade varies by crop, most likely related to storability and geographical spread of production. Perishability appears to increase impact reflecting the lack of intertemporal arbitrage. Overall, impacts are, however, remarkably similar in size across commodities.
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper ; No. 15-055/V
- Classification
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Wirtschaft
Empirical Studies of Trade
Economic History: Transport, Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services: Africa; Oceania
Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
Economywide Country Studies: Africa
Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
- Subject
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trade
crop prices
transaction costs
rail infrastructure
Malawi
sub Saharan Africa
- Event
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
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Zant, Wouter
- Event
-
Veröffentlichung
- (who)
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Tinbergen Institute
- (where)
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Amsterdam and Rotterdam
- (when)
-
2015
- Handle
- Last update
-
03.05.2025, 8:09 AM CEST
Data provider
This object is provided by:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Zant, Wouter
- Tinbergen Institute
Time of origin
- 2015
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