| This dissertation offers several contributions to the international trade literature. First, it introduces duration analysis tools to international trade as a tool to study the length of trading. Second, it provides empirical evidence that trade in different product types differs, a result that has largely escaped the international trade literature. Third, it offers a study of the long run growth of trade.; After introductory remarks of the first chapter, the second chapter offers the first examination of trade data using duration analysis. The duration of US import trade is studied. Several important conclusions are reached. The median duration of exporting a product to the US is very short, just four years. It varies significantly across countries and industries. Aggregating the data increases duration only slightly. A significant change in duration occurs only when the data is aggregated to the highest possible level, reflecting only several industries. The relative survival experience, however, remains unchanged.; The third chapter analyses whether there are any differences in duration of trade relationships involving different types of products. Trade in homogenous and reference priced products is of much shorter duration than trade in differentiated products. Differentiated products have a median survival time of five years, while reference priced goods and homogenous products have a median survival time of only two years. As compared with differentiated products the hazard rate for reference priced goods is 16 percent higher and for homogenous goods 20–24 percent higher. The results are robust. These results provide compelling evidence that trade in differentiated goods is different than in homogenous goods.; The final chapter examines uses a Ricardian model of trade to study the growth of international trade from 1884 to 1992. A key supply side parameter is estimated and used to decompose the growth of trade for five countries, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, the UK, and US. The main result is that trade impediments themselves cannot alone account for the growth of trade. Supply side changes play an important role in the evolution of trade. |
