F14 - Empirical Studies of Trade

• Assessing tariff pass-through to consumer prices in Canada: Lessons from 2018

  Staff Analytical Note 2025-18 Alexander Lam

  US trade protectionism is making the economic outlook increasingly uncertain. To assess how consumer prices may respond to tariffs, we examine a tariff episode from 2018 using detailed microdata and the synthetic control method.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices, International topics, Recent economic and financial developments, Trade integration JEL Code(s): E, E3, E30, E31, F, F1, F10, F13, F14

• The Mutable Geography of Firms’ International Trade

  Staff Working Paper 2025-11 Lu Han

  Exporters frequently change their market destinations. This paper introduces a new approach to identifying the drivers of these decisions over time. Analysis of customs data from China and the UK shows most changes are driven by demand rather than supply-related shocks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Firm dynamics, International topics, Trade integration JEL Code(s): F, F1, F12, F14, L, L1, L11

• Trade and Diffusion of Embodied Technology: An Empirical Analysis

  Staff Working Paper 2023-21 Stephen Ayerst, Faisal Ibrahim, Gaelan MacKenzie, Swapnika Rachapalli

  Using data from patents, citations, inter-sectoral sales and customs, we examine the international diffusion of technology through imports of sectoral knowledge and production inputs. We develop an instrumental variable strategy to identify the causal effects of technology embodied in imports on innovation and diffusion outcomes.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Development economics, International topics, Productivity, Trade integration JEL Code(s): F, F1, F14, F6, F61, O, O1, O19, O3, O31, O33

• Exporting and Investment Under Credit Constraints

  Staff Working Paper 2023-10 Kim Huynh, Robert Petrunia, Joel Rodrigue, Walter Steingress

  We examine the relationship between firms’ performance and credit constraints affecting export market entry. Using administrative Canadian firm-level data, our findings show that new exporters (a) increase their productivity, (b) raise their leverage ratio and (c) increase investment. We estimate that 48 percent of Canadian manufacturers face binding credit constraints when deciding whether to enter export markets.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Firm dynamics, International topics, Productivity JEL Code(s): F, F1, F10, F14, F3, F36, G, G2, G20, G28, G3, G32

• Climate Variability and International Trade

  Staff Working Paper 2023-8 Geoffrey R. Dunbar, Walter Steingress, Ben Tomlin

  This paper quantifies the impact of hurricanes on seaborne international trade to the United States. Matching the timing of hurricane–trade route intersections with monthly U.S. port-level trade data, we isolate the unanticipated effects of a hurricane hitting a trade route using two separate identification schemes: an event study and a local projection.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Climate change, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, C5, F, F1, F14, F18, Q, Q5, Q54

• No Double Standards: Quantifying the Impact of Standard Harmonization on Trade

  Staff Working Paper 2019-36 Julia Schmidt, Walter Steingress

  Product standards are omnipresent in industrialized societies. Though standardization can be beneficial for domestic producers, divergent product standards have been categorized as a major obstacle to international trade. This paper quantifies the effect of standard harmonization on trade flows and characterizes the extent to which it changes the cost and demand structure of exporting.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F1, F13, F14, F15, L, L1, L15

• Exchange Rates, Retailers, and Importing: Theory and Firm-Level Evidence

  Staff Working Paper 2019-34 Alex Chernoff, Patrick Alexander

  We develop a model with firm heterogeneity in importing and cross-border shopping among consumers. Exchange-rate appreciations lower the cost of imported goods, but also lead to more cross-border shopping; hence, the net impact on aggregate retail prices and sales is ambiguous.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Exchange rates, International topics, Service sector JEL Code(s): F, F1, F10, F14, L, L8, L81

• The Impact of a Trade War: Assessment of the Current Tariffs and Alternative Scenarios

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-20 Karyne B. Charbonneau

  This note uses Charbonneau and Landry’s (2018) framework to assess the direct impact of the current trade tensions on the Canadian and global economies, as well as possible implications if the conflict escalates further. Overall, my findings show that the estimated impact of current tariffs on real gross domestic product (GDP) remains relatively small, which is in line with the literature on gains from trade, but the impact on trade is much larger.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Recent economic and financial developments, Trade integration JEL Code(s): F, F1, F11, F13, F14, F15, F5, F50, F6, F62, F68

• The Trade War in Numbers

  Staff Working Paper 2018-57 Karyne B. Charbonneau, Anthony Landry

  We build upon new developments in the international trade literature to isolate and quantify the long-run economic impacts of tariff changes on the United States and the global economy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Recent economic and financial developments, Trade integration JEL Code(s): F, F1, F11, F13, F14, F15, F5, F50, F6, F62, F68

• Market Size and Entry in International Trade: Product Versus Firm Fixed Costs

  Staff Working Paper 2018-43 Walter Steingress

  This paper develops a theoretical framework to infer the nature of fixed costs from the relationship between entry patterns in international markets and destination market size. If fixed costs are at the firm level, firms take advantage of an intrafirm spillover by expanding firm-level product range (scope).

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Firm dynamics, International topics, Trade integration JEL Code(s): F, F1, F12, F14, F2, F23