Gravity equations:
Double-stack container train on the Canadian transcontinental railway
The gravity equations chapter (PDF, 1.2Mo) to appear in the Handbook of International Economics is now available on this website.
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the estimation and interpretation of gravity equations for bilateral trade. This necessarily involves a careful consideration of the theoretical underpinnings since it has become clear that naive approaches to estimation lead to biased and frequently misinterpreted results. There are now several theory-consistent estimation methods and we argue against sole reliance on any one method and instead advocate a toolkit approach. One estimator may be preferred for certain types of data or research questions but more often the methods should be used in concert to establish robustness. In recent years, estimation has become just a first step before a deeper analysis of the implications of the results, notably in terms of welfare. We try to facilitate diffusion of best-practice methods by illustrating their application in a step-by-step cookbook mode of exposition.
Companion website
Companion website to the paper, including a lot of stata code.
Paris Trade seminar
Container terminal in Cadiz, Spain
The Paris trade seminar is co-organized by the Paris School of Economics (PSE), the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and Sciences Po, with the support of University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (in French).
Schedule
The seminar takes place every two weeks on Tuesday, 2.30 pm to 4.00pm, rotating by semesters between the two PSE campuses and Sciences Po.
The detailed schedule can be found here.
Location
In this academic year 2013-2014, the seminar’s venue is Sciences Po (56 rue des Saints-Pères, 75007 Paris, M° Saint Germain des Prés) between September 2013 and January 2014.
From February to June 2014, the seminar will move to the Maison des Sciences Économiques at University of Paris I (106, boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75013 Paris, M° Place d’Italie or Campo Formio).
Content
The seminar presents recent works by French and foreign scholars about International trade and its frontiers with other fields. The seminar has become a major meeting point for trade economists in Paris. Consequently it is scheduled to have informal discussions between participants and the speaker at the end of the seminar.
Organizers
- Anne-Célia Disdier
- Lionel Fontagné
- Thierry Mayer
- Thierry Verdier
- with the help of Béatrice Havet
HETMAT website
European Union flag
The HETMAT team is delighted to announce the launch of our new website.
Visit us to find out more about the project, our research, partners and publications.
We will post regular updates on publications and other activities related to the project.
