ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften
Doi
Abstract
The accuracy of international trade data can be rather questionable as in some cases large asymmetries in bilateral trade statistics result. Bilateral trade asymmetries are also referred to as mirror discrepancies and occur when the declared value of a country's imports does not correspond to the value of exports declared by its trading partner. Such mirror discrepancies are problematic because they jeopardize the quality of international merchandise trade statistics (IMTS) and thus lead to misreported bilateral deficits or surpluses, which in turn can motivate policy-makers to adopt ill-considered economic decisions. In order to improve the overall quality of IMTS, it is of utmost importance to understand the various factors that lead to mirror discrepancies
