History, Culture, and Trade: A Dynamic Gravity Approach

Arbeitspapier

What determines trade patterns? Habit persistence in consumer tastes and learning-by-doing in production imply that history and culture matter. Deriving a dynamic gravity equation from a simple model, it is shown that cultural similarity is a product of history, so that trade patterns are a function of bilateral GDP, current trade costs, and the past history of trade costs. Using a trade data set which spans from 1870 to 2000, I demonstrate that many gravity variables operate via lagged trade, that historical trade shocks matter, and that trade patterns are persistent, even across centuries.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: EERI Research Paper Series ; No. 26/2010

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Trade: General ; Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation ; International Migration ; Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services: General, International, or Comparative
• Subject: Dynamic Gravity Equation ; Endogenous Preferences ; Habit Persistence ; Learning By-Doing

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Campbell, Douglas L.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI)
• (where): Brussels
• (when): 2010

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/142588
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET