Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/50331 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
KOF Working Papers No. 175
Publisher: 
ETH Zurich, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich
Abstract: 
The paper analyzes whether the political regime of a country influences its involvement in international trade. Firstly, we develop a theoretical model that predicts that autocracies trade less than democracies. Secondly, we test the predictions of the model empirically using a panel of more than 130 countries for the years 1962 to 2000. In contrast to the existing literature, we use data on individual importing and exporting countries, rather than a dyadic set-up. In line with the model, we find that autocracies import substantially less than democracies, even after controlling for official trade policies. This finding is very stable and does not depend on a particular set-up or estimation technique.
Subjects: 
international trade
democracy
autocracy
gravity model
JEL: 
F13
F14
O24
P45
P51
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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