[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jocore/v63y2019i2p405-438.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

State Control and the Effects of Foreign Relations on Bilateral Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Christina L. Davis
  • Andreas Fuchs
  • Kristina Johnson
Abstract
Can governments still use trade to reward and punish partner countries? While World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and the pressures of globalization restrict states’ capacity to manipulate trade policies, politicization of trade is likely to occur where governments intervene in markets. We examine state ownership of firms as one tool of government control. Taking China and India as examples, we use new data on bilateral trade disaggregated by firm ownership type as well as measures of political relations based on bilateral events and United Nations voting data to estimate the effect of political relations on import flows since the early 1990s. Our results support the hypothesis that imports controlled by state-owned enterprises are more responsive to political relations than imports controlled by private enterprises. This finding suggests that politicized import decisions will increase as countries with partially state-controlled economies gain strength in the global economy. Extending our analysis to exports for comparison, we find a similar pattern for Indian but not for Chinese exports and offer potential explanations for these differential findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Christina L. Davis & Andreas Fuchs & Kristina Johnson, 2019. "State Control and the Effects of Foreign Relations on Bilateral Trade," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(2), pages 405-438, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:63:y:2019:i:2:p:405-438
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002717739087
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002717739087
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022002717739087?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward D. Mansfield & Helen V. Milner & B. Peter Rosendorff, 2015. "Free to Trade: Democracies, Autocracies, and International Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Edward D Mansfield (ed.), THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE, chapter 7, pages 127-143, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Baccini, Leonardo & Impullitti, Giammario & Malesky, Edmund J., 2019. "Globalization and state capitalism: Assessing Vietnam's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 75-92.
    3. Przemyslaw Kowalski & Max Büge & Monika Sztajerowska & Matias Egeland, 2013. "State-Owned Enterprises: Trade Effects and Policy Implications," OECD Trade Policy Papers 147, OECD Publishing.
    4. Paul H. Malatesta & Kathryn L. DeWenter, 2001. "State-Owned and Privately Owned Firms: An Empirical Analysis of Profitability, Leverage, and Labor Intensity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 320-334, March.
    5. Mayer, Thierry & Zignago, Soledad, 2006. "Notes on CEPII’s distances measures," MPRA Paper 26469, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Steinfeld,Edward S., 2000. "Forging Reform in China," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521778619, September.
    7. Andrew K. Rose, 2007. "The Foreign Service and Foreign Trade: Embassies as Export Promotion," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 22-38, January.
    8. Fuchs, Andreas & Klann, Nils-Hendrik, 2013. "Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama effect on international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 164-177.
    9. Raymond Fisman & Yasushi Hamao & Yongxiang Wang, 2014. "Nationalism and Economic Exchange: Evidence from Shocks to Sino-Japanese Relations," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(9), pages 2626-2660.
    10. Volker Nitsch, 2007. "State Visits and International Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(12), pages 1797-1816, December.
    11. Jinzhao Chen, 2012. "Crisis, Capital Controls and Covered Interest Parity: Evidence from China in Transformation," PSE Working Papers halshs-00660654, HAL.
    12. Toke S. Aidt & Martin Gassebner, 2010. "Do Autocratic States Trade Less?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 38-76, January.
    13. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Wang, Qian & Zhou, Li-An, 2008. "Political connections, financing and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese private firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 283-299, October.
    14. Hong Canhui & Hu Wei-Min & Prieger James E. & Zhu Dongming, 2011. "French Automobiles and the Chinese Boycotts of 2008: Politics Really Does Affect Commerce," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-38, May.
    15. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    16. Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Jeffrey J. Schott & Kimberly Ann Elliott, 2009. "Economic Sanctions Reconsidered, 3rd Edition (paper)," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 4129, April.
    17. Cheung, Yin-Wong (ed.), 2012. "The Evolving Role of China in the Global Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262018234, April.
    18. Shih, Victor & Adolph, Christopher & Liu, Mingxing, 2012. "Getting Ahead in the Communist Party: Explaining the Advancement of Central Committee Members in China," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(1), pages 166-187, February.
    19. James D. Morrow, 1999. "How Could Trade Affect Conflict?," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 36(4), pages 481-489, July.
    20. Paul Krugman, 1992. "Does the New Trade Theory Require a New Trade Policy?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 423-442, July.
    21. Daniel Berger & William Easterly & Nathan Nunn & Shanker Satyanath, 2013. "Commercial Imperialism? Political Influence and Trade during the Cold War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 863-896, April.
    22. Daniel Yuichi Kono & Stephanie J. Rickard, 2014. "Buying National: Democracy, Public Procurement, and International Trade," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 657-682, October.
    23. Gartzke, Erik & Li, Quan & Boehmer, Charles, 2001. "Investing in the Peace: Economic Interdependence and International Conflict," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(2), pages 391-438, April.
    24. Antonio Capobianco & Hans Christiansen, 2011. "Competitive Neutrality and State-Owned Enterprises: Challenges and Policy Options," OECD Corporate Governance Working Papers 1, OECD Publishing.
    25. Andrew G. Long & Brett Ashley Leeds, 2006. "Trading for Security: Military Alliances and Economic Agreements," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 43(4), pages 433-451, July.
    26. Boardman, Anthony E & Vining, Aidan R, 1989. "Ownership and Performance in Competitive Environments: A Comparison of the Performance of Private, Mixed, and State-Owned Enterprises," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 1-33, April.
    27. Morrow, James D. & Siverson, Randolph M. & Tabares, Tressa E., 1998. "The Political Determinants of International Trade: The Major Powers, 1907–1990," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 92(3), pages 649-661, September.
    28. Brett Leeds & Jeffrey Ritter & Sara Mitchell & Andrew Long, 2002. "Alliance Treaty Obligations and Provisions, 1815-1944," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 237-260, July.
    29. Solomon William Polachek, 1980. "Conflict and Trade," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 24(1), pages 55-78, March.
    30. Aisbett, Emma & McAusland, Carol, 2013. "Firm characteristics and influence on government rule-making: Theory and evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 214-235.
    31. Joachim Jarreau & Sandra Poncet, 2014. "Credit constraints, firm ownership and the structure of exports in China," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 139, pages 152-173.
    32. Stephen G. Brooks, 2007. "Introduction to Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and the Changing Calculus of Conflict," Introductory Chapters, in: Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and the Changing Calculus of Conflict, Princeton University Press.
    33. repec:cii:cepiei:2014-q3-139-8 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Christina L. Davis & Sophie Meunier, 2011. "Business as Usual? Economic Responses to Political Tensions," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(3), pages 628-646, July.
    35. Scott L. Kastner, 2007. "When Do Conflicting Political Relations Affect International Trade?," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 51(4), pages 664-688, August.
    36. Carnegie, Allison, 2014. "States Held Hostage: Political Hold-Up Problems and the Effects of International Institutions," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 108(1), pages 54-70, February.
    37. Lu, Zhengfei & Zhu, Jigao & Zhang, Weining, 2012. "Bank discrimination, holding bank ownership, and economic consequences: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 341-354.
    38. Pollins, Brian M., 1989. "Does Trade Still Follow the Flag?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(2), pages 465-480, June.
    39. King, Gary & Lowe, Will, 2003. "An Automated Information Extraction Tool for International Conflict Data with Performance as Good as Human Coders: A Rare Events Evaluation Design," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(3), pages 617-642, July.
    40. Cornelia Woll & Ben Clift, 2012. "Economic Patriotism: Reinventing Control Over Open Markets," Post-Print hal-02186557, HAL.
    41. Peter Ferdinand, 2014. "Rising powers at the UN: an analysis of the voting behaviour of in the General Assembly," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 376-391, March.
    42. Chari, Anusha & Gupta, Nandini, 2008. "Incumbents and protectionism: The political economy of foreign entry liberalization," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 633-656, June.
    43. Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Jeffrey J. Schott & Kimberly Ann Elliott, 1990. "Economic Sanctions Reconsidered: 2nd Edition," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 82, January.
    44. Wei, Shang-Jin & Wang, Tao, 1997. "The siamese twins: Do state-owned banks favor state-owned enterprises in China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 19-29.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fuchs, Andreas & Klann, Nils-Hendrik, 2013. "Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama effect on international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 164-177.
    2. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053.
    3. Lin, Faqin & Hu, Cui & Fuchs, Andreas, 2019. "How do firms respond to political tensions? The heterogeneity of the Dalai Lama Effect on trade," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 73-93.
    4. Fuchs, Andreas, 2016. "China’s Economic Diplomacy and the Politics-Trade Nexus," Working Papers 0609, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    5. Du, Yingxin & Ju, Jiandong & Ramirez, Carlos D. & Yao, Xi, 2017. "Bilateral trade and shocks in political relations: Evidence from China and some of its major trading partners, 1990–2013," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 211-225.
    6. repec:got:cegedp:113 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Yaying Liu & Jin Chen & Churen Sun, 2022. "Partnership Diplomacy and China’s Exports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    8. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2019. "The impact of economic sanctions on international trade: How do threatened sanctions compare with imposed sanctions?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 11-26.
    9. Yan, Jiaqiang & Zhou, Yonghong, 2021. "Economic return to political support: Evidence from voting on the representation of China in the United Nations," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Jianting Fan & Bo Lu, 2021. "The impact of summit visits on bilateral trade: Empirical evidence from China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(12), pages 3583-3608, December.
    11. Peter A.G. van Bergeijk, 2009. "Economic Diplomacy and the Geography of International Trade," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13518.
    12. Massoud Tansa G. & Magee Christopher S., 2012. "Trade and Political, Military, and Economic Relations," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 1-39, May.
    13. Faqin Lin & Wenshou Yan & Xiaosong Wang, 2017. "The impact of Africa-China's diplomatic visits on bilateral trade," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 64(3), pages 310-326, July.
    14. Philippe Martin & Thierry Mayer & Mathias Thoenig, 2008. "Make Trade Not War?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(3), pages 865-900.
    15. Aleksanyan, Mark & Hao, Zhiwei & Vagenas-Nanos, Evangelos & Verwijmeren, Patrick, 2021. "Do state visits affect cross-border mergers and acquisitions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    16. Yuleng Zeng, 2020. "Bluff to peace: How economic dependence promotes peace despite increasing deception and uncertainty," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 37(6), pages 633-654, November.
    17. Pao-Li Chang & Tomoki Fujii & Wei Jin, 2022. "Good Names Beget Favors: The Impact of Country Image on Trade Flows and Welfare," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7555-7596, October.
    18. Li, Yuhua & Jian, Ze & Tian, Wei & Zhao, Laixun, 2021. "How political conflicts distort bilateral trade: Firm-level evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 233-249.
    19. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Khalifa, Sherif, 2021. "Do Leader’s Visits Increase Trade Flows?," MPRA Paper 105577, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Desbordes, Rodolphe & Vicard, Vincent, 2009. "Foreign direct investment and bilateral investment treaties: An international political perspective," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 372-386, September.
    21. Cullen F. Goenner, 2011. "Simultaneity between Trade and Conflict: Endogenous Instruments of Mass Destruction," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 28(5), pages 459-477, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    state-owned enterprises; trade interdependence; China; India; foreign economic policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:63:y:2019:i:2:p:405-438. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.