Trade, product variety and welfare: A quantitative assessment for the transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe

We calculate welfare gains of trade liberalization in the Central and East European transition economies, following the approach of Romer (1994), who emphasized that proper modeling of the impact of trade restrictions on the number of available product varieties is crucial to quantifying the welfare impact of trade liberalization. The empirical work relies on direct measures of product variety calculated from 5- digit trade data. Although the issue is far from settled, the emerging conclusion is that freer trade has boosted welfare.Trade Liberalization, Product Variety, Welfare, Transition Economies

Product Variety and Economic Growth - Empirical Evidence for the OECD Countries

Utilizing panel data for 19 OECD countries we find suppor t for the hypothesis that a greater degree of product variety relative to the US helps to explain relative per capita GDP levels. The empirical work relies upon some direct measures of product variety calculated from 6-digit OECD export and import data. A lthough the issue is still far from being settled, the merging conclusion is that the index of relative product variety across countries is significantly correlated with relative per capita income levels.Product variety, economic growth, panel data, OECD countries

Export variety and economic growth in East European transition economies

Utilising panel data for 14 East European transition economies, we find support for the hypothesis that a greater degree of export variety relative to the U.S. helps to explain relative per capita GDP levels. The empirical work relies upon some direct measures of product variety calculated from 5-digit OECD trade data. Although the issue is far from settled, the emerging view is that the index of relative export variety across countries correlates significantly with relative per capita income levels.product variety; transition economies; Eastern Europe; economic growth; panel data

Product Variety and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence for the OECD Countries

Utilizing panel data for 19 member countries of the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD), we find support for the hypothesis that a greater degree of product variety relative to the United States helps to explain relative per capita GDP levels. The empirical work relies upon some direct measures of product variety calculated from six-digit OECD export and import data. Although the issue is far from being settled, the emerging conclusion is that the index of relative product variety across countries is significantly correlated with relative per capita income levels. Copyright 2001, International Monetary Fund

Trade, product variety and welfare: A quantitative assessment for the transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe

We calculate welfare gains of trade liberalization in the Central and East European transition economies, following the approach of Romer (1994), who emphasized that proper modeling of the impact of trade restrictions on the number of available product varieties is crucial to quantifying the welfare impact of trade liberalization. The empirical work relies on direct measures of product variety calculated from 5-digit trade data. Although the issue is far from settled, the emerging conclusion is that freer trade has boosted welfare.trade liberalization; product variety; welfare; transition economies

Product Variety and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence for the OECD

Utilizing panel data for 19 member countries of the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD), we find support for the hypothesis that a greater degree of product variety relative to the United States helps to explain relative per capita GDP levels. The empirical work relies upon some direct measures of product variety calculated from six-digit OECD export and import data. Although the issue is far from being settled, the emerging conclusion is that the index of relative product variety across countries is significantly correlated with relative per capita income levels. [JEL F41, F43, C23] ε+ ε> = y + β

Export Variety and Export Performance: Empirical Evidence from East Asia

Does product variety matter for export performance? This has been suggested by the new trade theory. In the present paper, we investigate empirically whether increasing export variety has contributed to the export growth of ten East Asian countries. In the paper we calculate direct measures of export variety and estimate pooled annual export equations for ten East Asian countries. The econometric results suggest that producing highly differentiated export goods gives a competitive advantage which allows to sell more products.

Product Variety and Economic Growth Empirical Evidence for the OECD Countries

Utilizing panel data for 19 OECD countries we find support for the hypothesis that a greater degree of product variety relative to the US helps to explain relative per capita GDP levels. The empirical work relies upon some direct measures of product variety calculated from 6-digit OECD export and import data. The econometric estimates indicate that the index of relative product variety is significantly correlated with relative per capita income levels.