The Lumpiness of German Exports and Imports of Goods

Abstract: This paper looks at a hitherto neglected extensive margin of international trade by investigating for the first time the frequency at which German exporters and importers trade a given good with a given country. Imports and exports show a high degree of lumpiness. In a given year about half of all firm-good-country combinations are recorded only once or twice for trade with EU-countries, and this is the case for more than 60 percent of all firm-good-country combinations in trade with non-EU countries. The frequency of recorded transactions tends to decline with an increase in the number of transactions per year. This is in accordance with the presence of per-shipment fixed costs that provide an incentive for trading firms to engage in cross-border transactions infrequently. Empirical models show that for Germany the frequency of transactions at the firm-good-country level tends to decrease with an increase in per-shipment costs when unobserved firm and goods characteristics are controlled for.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: The Lumpiness of German Exports and Imports of Goods ; volume:10 ; number:1 ; year:2016 ; extent:39 ; Economics / Journal articles. Journal articles ; 10, Heft 1 (2016) (gesamt 39)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Wagner, Joachim

Further information

• DOI: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2016-21
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2412131001362.273076904023
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:28 AM CEST