Do visas hinder international trade in goods?
成果类型:
Article
署名作者:
Umana-Dajud, Camilo
刊物名称:
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
ISSN/ISSBN:
0304-3878
DOI:
10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.05.002
发表日期:
2019
页码:
106-126
关键词:
摘要:
Travel visas impose additional costs to firms engaging in international trade. This paper exploits a natural experiment provided by the Schengen Agreement to document a large causal negative impact of visas on goods trade. The introduction of a visa, requested by a single Schengen Area member, considerably reduced bilateral trade flows of Ecuador and Bolivia with the members of the border-control free zone other than Spain. I show that the negative impact of visas is much larger for differentiated than for homogeneous products. By applying a general equilibrium framework, the paper shows that removing visas would increase welfare by 5% or more for some Sub-Saharan African countries and by 1,1% on average for developing countries. For policy makers this paper highlights the importance of including visa facilitation schemes into the provisions of trade agreements and economic partnerships.
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