Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.11644/KIEP.EAER.2019.23.3.365

International Migration and Export Flows: Evidence from the People's Republic of China  

Karkanis, Dimitrios (Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly)
Publication Information
East Asian Economic Review / v.23, no.3, 2019 , pp. 311-329 More about this Journal
Abstract
Since China's opening to international trade, the rapid growth of the country's export sector has been coupled by an intensification of migratory outflows of ethnic Chinese. The literature has already stressed the beneficial role of migration in enhancing bilateral trade. The present paper applies a gravity model in order to capture the impact of migration on Chinese exports for a relatively long period of time (1995-2017) where significant developments take place. We estimated four regressions, each of them confirming the positive network effects of migration for boosting export growth. Apart from the main finding, it appears that the role of institutional and geographical proximity can prove to be complementary for trade enhancement. The results finally suggest mixed effects due to the countries' import openness, indicating that China's free trade agreements acts as a substitute for smoothing trade competition from third countries.
Keywords
China; Migration; Export Flows; Gravity Equation; Trade Agreements;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Genc, M., Gheasi, M., Nijkamp, P. and J. Poot. 2011. The Impact of Immigration on International Trade: A Meta-Analysis. IZA Discussion Papers, no. 6145. Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
2 Aleksynska, M. and G. Peri. 2014. "Isolating the Network Effect of Immigrants on Trade," World Economy, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 434-455.   DOI
3 Anderson, J. E. 1979. "A Theoretical Foundation for the Gravity Equation," American Economic Review, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 106-116.
4 Anderson, J. E. and E. van Wincoop. 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, vol. 93, no. 1, pp. 170-192.   DOI
5 Behar, A. and B. D. Nelson. 2012. Trade Flows, Multilateral Resistance, and Firm Heterogeneity. IMF Working Paper, no. 12/297.
6 Bergstrand, J. H. 1985. "The Gravity Equation in International Trade: Some Microeconomic Foundations and Empirical Evidence," Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 67, no. 3, pp. 474-481.   DOI
7 Bratti, M., De Benedictis, L. and G. Santoni. 2012. On the Pro-Trade Effects of Immigrants. IZA Discussion Papers, no. 6628. Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
8 Briant, A., Combes, P. P. and M. Lafourcade. 2009. Product Complexity, Quality of Institutions and the Pro-Trade Effect of Immigrants. PSE Working Papers, no. 2009-06.
9 Gould, D. M. 1994. "Immigrant Links to The Home Country: Empirical Implications for U.S. Bilateral Trade Flows," Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 76, no. 2, pp. 302-316.   DOI
10 Grigoriou, C. 2007. Landlockedness, Infrastructure and Trade: New Estimates for Central Asian Countries. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, no. 4335.
11 Haidar, J. I. and S. H. Mirjalili. 2016. "Bridging Iranian Exporters with Foreign Markets: Does Diaspora Matter?," Journal of Economic Integration, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 609-630.   DOI
12 Head, K. and T. Mayer. 2013. Gravity Equations: Workhorse, Toolkit, and Cookbook. Sciences Po Economics Discussion Papers, no. 2013-02.
13 Head, K. and J. Ries. 1998. "Immigration and Trade Creation: Econometric Evidence from Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 47-62.   DOI
14 Helpman, E. and P. Krugman. 1985. Market Structure and Foreign Trade: Increasing Returns, Imperfect Competition, and The International Economy. Cambridge: MIT Press.
15 Kang, J. S. and W. Liao. 2016. Chinese Imports: What's Behind the Slowdown? IMF Working Paper, no. 16/106.
16 Karayil, S. B. 2007. "Does Migration Matter in Trade? A Study of India's Exports to The GCC Countries," South Asia Economic Journal, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1-20.   DOI
17 Kucera, D. and R. Sarna. 2006. "Trade Union Rights, Democracy, and Exports: A Gravity Model Approach," Review of International Economics, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 859-882.   DOI
18 Kurihara, Y. 2012. "Is the WTO Truly Effective?," iBusiness, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 121-125.   DOI
19 Caporale, G. M., Sova, A. and R. Sova. 2015. "Trade Flows and Trade Specialization: The Case of China," China Economic Review, vol. 34, pp. 261-273.   DOI
20 Burger, M. J., van Oort, F. and G. J. Linders. 2009. "On the Specification of the Gravity Model of Trade: Zeros, Excess Zeros and Zero Inflated Estimation," Spatial Economic Analysis, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 167-190.   DOI
21 CEPII GeoDist Database. 2017. (accessed January 12, 2019)
22 Chan, E. M. H. and K. F. Au. 2007. "Determinants of China's Textile Exports: An Analysis by Gravity Model," Journal of The Textile Institute, vol. 98, no. 5, pp. 463-469.   DOI
23 Chang, P. L. and M. J. Lee. 2011. "The WTO Trade Effect," Journal of International Economics, vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 53-71.   DOI
24 Chen, B. and Y. Li. 2014. "Analyzing Bilateral Trade Barriers under Global Trade Context: A Gravity Model Adjusted Trade Intensity Index Approach," Review of Development Economics, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 326-339.   DOI
25 Cipkute, E. 2016. "The Gravity Model for Assessing Trade Patterns: The Case of Baltic States," EKONOMIKA, vol. 95, no. 3, pp. 81-97.   DOI
26 Cipollina, M., De Benedictis, L., Salvatici, L. and C. Vicarelli. 2016. Policy Measurement and Multilateral Resistance in Gravity Models. MPRA Paper, no. 75255.
27 De Bruyne, K., Magerman, G. and J. Van Hove. 2013. Revealed Multilateral Trade Resistance in Gravity Models - A Network Approach. (accessed January 12, 2019)
28 Didier, L. and P. Koenig. 2016. Has China Replaced Colonial Trade? PSE Working Papers, no. 2016-23.
29 Markusen, J. R. 1983. "Factor Movements and Commodity Trade as Complements," Journal of International Economics, vol. 14, no. 3-4, pp. 341-356.   DOI
30 Lardy, N. R. 2016. Reality Check on China. In Blanchard, O. and A. S. Posen. (eds.) Reality Check for The Global Economy. Peterson Institute for International Economics. PIIE Briefing, no. 16-3, pp. 16-18.
31 Mayer, T. and S. Zignago. 2011. Notes on CEPII's Distances Measures: The GeoDist Database. CEPII Working Paper, no. 2011-25.
32 Melitz, J. and F. Toubal. 2014. "Native Language, Spoken Language, Translation and Trade," Journal of International Economics, vol. 93, no. 2, pp. 351-363.   DOI
33 Metulini, R., Sgrignoli, P., Schiavo, S. and M. Riccaboni. 2014. The Migration Network Effect on International Trade. Working Papers, no. 5/2014. IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca.
34 Palm, R. 2002. "Utilisation Du Bootstrap Pour Les Problemes Statistiques Lies A l'estimation Des Parametres," Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Societe Environment (BASE), vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 143-153.
35 Peri, G. and F. Requena-Silvente. 2010. "The Trade Creation Effect of Immigrants: Evidence from the Remarkable Case of Spain," Canadian Journal of Economics, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 1433-1459.   DOI
36 Porojan, A. 2001. "Trade Flows and Spatial Effects: The Gravity Trade Model Revisited," Open Economies Review, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 265-280.   DOI
37 Pöyhönen, P. 1963. "A Tentative Model for the Volume of Trade Between Countries," Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, vol. 90, pp. 93-100.
38 Rauch, J. E. and V. Trindade. 2002. "Ethnic Chinese Networks in International Trade," Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 116-130.   DOI
39 Eicher, T. S. and C. Henn. 2009. In Search of WTO Trade Effects: Preferential Trade Agreements Promote Trade Strongly, But Unevenly. IMF Working Paper, no. 09/31.
40 Ehrhart, H., Le Goff, M., Rocher, E. and R. J. Singh. 2012. Does Migration Foster Exports? An African Perspective. CEPII Working Paper, no. 2012-38.
41 Felbermayr, G., Grossman, V. and W. Kohler. 2012. Migration, International Trade and Capital Formation: Cause or Effect? IZA Discussion Papers, no. 6975. Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
42 Felipe, J. and U. Kumar. 2010. The Role of Trade Facilitation in Central Asia: A Gravity Model. Levy Economics Institute of Bard College Working Paper, no. 628.
43 Tinbergen, J. 1962. Shaping the World Economy: Suggestions for an International Economic Policy. New York: The Twentieth Century Fund.
44 Sangita, S. 2013. "The Effect of Diasporic Business Networks on International Trade Flows," Review of International Economics, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 266-280.   DOI
45 Santos Silva, J. M. C. and S. Tenreyro. 2006. "The Log of Gravity," Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 88, no. 4, pp. 641-658.   DOI
46 Sheng, Y., Tang, H. C. and X. Xu. 2012. The Impact of ACFTA on People's Republic of China-ASEAN Trade: Estimates Based on an Extended Gravity Model for Component Trade. ADB Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration, no. 99.
47 Sohn, C. H. 2005. "Does the Gravity Model Explain South Korea's Trade Flows?," Japanese Economic Review, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 417-430.   DOI
48 Subramanian, A. and S. J. Wei. 2003. The WTO Promotes Trade, Strongly But Unevenly. IMF Working Paper, no. 03/185.
49 UN COMTRADE, UNCTADStat. 2017. (accessed January 12, 2019)
50 UN DESA, Population Division. 2017. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2017 Revision. United Nations Database, POP/DB/MIG/Stock/Rev. 2017.
51 Vlontzos, G. and M. N. Duquenne. 2008. "Greek Olive Oil: How Can Its International Market Potential Be Realized?," Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 32-47.
52 World Bank Open Data. 2017. (accessed January 12, 2019)