Why Trade Matters After All
Working Paper 18113
DOI 10.3386/w18113
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I show that accounting for cross-industry variation in trade elasticities greatly magnifies the estimated gains from trade. The main idea is as simple as it is general: While imports in the average industry do not matter too much, imports in some industries are critical to the functioning of the economy, so that a complete shutdown of international trade is very costly overall.
Published Versions
Ralph Ossa, 2015. "Why trade matters after all," Journal of International Economics, vol 97(2), pages 266-277. citation courtesy of