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  3. American Economic Review
  4. September 2004
  5. The Home-Market Effect and Bilateral Trade Patterns

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

The Home-Market Effect and Bilateral Trade Patterns

  • Gordon H. Hanson
  • Chong Xiang
American Economic Review
vol. 94, no. 4, September 2004
(pp. 1108–1129)
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Abstract

We develop a monopolistic-competition model of trade with many industries to examine how home-market effects vary with industry characteristics. Industries with high transport costs and more differentiated products tend to be more concentrated in large countries than industries with low transport costs and less differentiated products. We test this prediction using a difference-in-difference gravity specification that controls for import tariffs, importing-country remoteness, home bias in demand, and the tendency for large countries to export more of all goods. We find strong evidence of home-market effects whose intensity varies across industries in a manner consistent with theory.

Citation

Hanson, Gordon, H., and Chong Xiang. 2004. "The Home-Market Effect and Bilateral Trade Patterns." American Economic Review, 94 (4): 1108–1129. DOI: 10.1257/0002828042002688

JEL Classification

  • F12 Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation