Thesis advisor: Ryan Chahrour / Virtual Economies present an excellent opportunity to study Economic concepts and phenomena in a controllable environment where perfect data collection exists. This paper uses Macroeconomic data provided by CCP Games on EVE Online to explore how the Quantity Theory of Money holds in a world without finance. The study supports the Real Business Cycle's effects on prices. Furthermore, a quick look is taken on the effects that player imposed borders have on trade within the EVE universe. It appears that, even in a virtual world, borders tend to reduce patterns of trade among neighboring regions. These findings encourage the further use of virtual economies, particularly Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), as petri dishes for the study of macroeconomic theories. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

Purpose – This report aims to address the methods used to obtain multi-regional input-output tables (MRIO-tables). Method – The research focuses on three gravity model of trade methods: simple gravity model estimation, doubly constrained gravity model estimation, and gravity model estimation with calibrated error function minimization. These methods are used for estimating and modelling multiregional trade flows, specifically in the context of MRIO-tables. These methods will be denoted as method 1, method 2 and method 3. Through a comparative analysis, the study focuses on the strengths and limitations of these methods and provides valuable insights for policymakers and researchers in the field. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the differences between the methods and their effectiveness in accurately representing MRIO-tables. Findings – This study evaluates three methods (mentioned above) for estimating multiregional trade flows, highlighting their performance. Method 1 and 2, exhibited similarities in their approach to estimating trade flows, both surpassing the performance of method 3 across various evaluation metrics. According to the results, method 1 and 2 are better than method 3 in accurately estimating multiregional trade flows. Limitations – This work had some limitations, the research focused on one specific product and how they flow between and across the regions as well as the total quantity of this product, i.e., the margins.

A fundamental requirement in agricultural trade is that imported products are safe, and do not pose a risk to human, animal and plant health. To address this issue, all countries maintain measures to ensure that imported food is safe for consumers, and to prevent the spread of disease among animals and plants. These measures, by their nature, can affect competitiveness by increasing the costs of imports or prohibiting them altogether. To ensure that these measures are used for their intended purpose and not as protectionist measures, WTO member countries signed the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures. A growing number of studies attempt to quantify the effects of SPS regulations on international trade flows. However, precious little research is dedicated to determining the effects of specific phytosanitary regulations on trade flows and, more importantly, questions regarding SPS regulations and their impact as "trade barriers" or "trade catalysts" remain to be settled. This thesis contributes to existing literature in two ways. First, a comprehensive and user friendly database on specific phytosanitary regulations faced by U.S. exports of onions, peas, walnuts, apples, cherries, grapes, peaches/nectarines, oranges and strawberries to 176 countries is developed for the period 1999-2009. Second, this database is used for an empirical investigation to determine how existing SPS regulations affect U.S. fruit and vegetable exports. The results indicate that initially, phytosanitary treatments act as "barriers" to trade. However, as exporters' experience grows, the negative impact of treatments is reduced and eventually eliminated. / Master of Science

This thesis investigates application of the gravity model of international trade on measuring a distance coefficient, which is known to be a proxy to globalization. This estimation is performed on a dataset containing information on EU 27 countries through the years 1996 to 2014. The presence of 10 post- communist countries enabled the author to perform the estimation on transformative economies, which had been isolated from their western trade partners for over 40 years. The division of the dataset into the Western and Eastern Blocs enabled measurement of convergence of the intra-blocs trade - the second goal of this thesis. This measurement was done through newly introduced intra-blocs trade variables that enabled measurements of both directions of trade. Through the application of this model on 10 sections, these measurements could be performed on single trade components. The analysis shows a substantial heterogeneity between single sections both in distance coefficient and inter-blocs trade. An increase in the level of globalization was observed in 9 out of 10 sections and convergence of some sections between the blocs was also found. Finally, globalization was found to progress with varying speed within single SITC sections during periods of economic crises. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Institute of Economic Studies Master's thesis Trade and Politics: Political Determinants of International Trade Flows Author: Bc. Jan Sosnovec Supervisor: Ing. Vilém Semerák, M.A., Ph.D. January 3, 2018 Abstract This thesis takes a comprehensive look at the relationship between international trade and politics. The first part of this thesis is theoretical. Besides providing a useful overview of this highly complex subject, it makes a contribution to the contemporary theory by proposing two simple models. The first of these models explains how because of complementarity of institutions, countries end up stuck with inefficient institutions and consequently high trade costs; countries can break out of this inefficient equilibrium only by coordinating their actions. The second proposed model shows how governments set trade barriers in order to pursue their political aims, while at the same time staying popular in order to remain in power. This model is consistent with a wide variety of regime types and ideologies, and takes into account voter heterogeneity. The second part of this thesis is empirical. It uses the gravity model of trade, with multilateral resistance terms represented either by fixed effects or by the Baier-Bergstrand linear approximation of...

In this study, we will show how Sweden's export is affected by changes in the exchange rate during the years 1962-2011. The regression model is built on the gravity model of trade, and is tested with both OLS and fixed effects. We have collected data from Sweden’s top 30 trading partners according to Statistiska Centralbyrån in April 2017. Three historically important regimes for Swedish exchange rate have been selected to study the short time effects on Swedish export. Those periods are 1970-1975, which is the last years of the Bretton Woods system and when it fell, 1991-1994 which is the period Sweden changed from fixed exchange rate to a floating and 2001-2006 to examine Sweden’s choice of not participate in the European Monetary Union (EMU). When analyzing the result, there is no conclusion on whether the effects of the changes in exchange rates have had a negative or positive impact on the Swedish export. The results vary depending on whether OLS or fixed effects are used. / I den här studien ska vi visa hur Sveriges export påverkats av förändringar i växelkursen under tidsperioden 1962–2011. Den använda regressionsmodellen har sin grund i gravitationsmodellen och testas med OLS och fixa effekter. Studien använder sig av Sveriges 30 största exportländer enligt Statistiska Centralbyrån i april 2017. Tre historiskt viktiga händelser för svensk växelkurs har valts ut för att undersöka de kortsiktiga effekterna på den svenska exporten. Dessa perioder är Bretton Woods systemet (1970–1975), när Sverige bytte från fast till rörlig växelkurs (1991–1994) och perioden 2001–2006 för att studera effekten av Sveriges val att stå utanför EMU. När vi analyserar resultatet finns det ingen slutgiltig slutsats av huruvida förändringar i växelkursen har haft en positiv eller negativ effekt på den svenska exporten. Resultaten varierar beroende på om OLS eller fixa effekter har använts.

The different ways countries trade with each other have developed during the years but the purpose, free exchange in goods and services, remains intact. The main idea of trade between countries is that both parties gain from the exchange. The European Union is the world’s biggest trading block, and in the form of a customs union there are mainly two different ways in which it theoretically can affect bilateral trade flows, namely by trade diversion or by trade creation. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the European Union affects the bilateral trade flows both within the union, as well as with countries outside of it. In order to examine these effects a quantitative method will be used where a regression analysis is applied based on a gravity model, observing the years 2000–2019. The results indicate a significant positive effect of EU-membership on both trade flows with different member countries, as well as with countries without a membership. The estimations from the different regressions indicate that the bilateral trade flows between member countries increases with around 33%–40%, while bilateral trade flows with countries outside of the union increases with around 3%. / Länders sätt att handla med varandra har utvecklats genom åren men syftet, fritt utbyte av varor och tjänster, är intakt. Grundidén till handel mellan länder är att båda tjänar på utbytet. Europeiska unionen är världens största handelsblock, och som en tullunion så finns det framförallt två effekter detta kan ge på länders bilaterala handel, antingen handelsfrämjande eller handelsomfördelande. Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera hur den europeiska handelsunionen påverkar den bilaterala handeln dels med andra medlemsländer, dels med länder utanför handelsunionen. För att undersöka dessa effekter används en kvantitativ metod där en regressionsanalys genomförs med hjälp av en gravitationsmodell, där de observerade åren är år 2000–2019. Resultatet av denna studie visar ett positivt signifikant samband mellan bilateral handel med både andra medlemsländer såväl som länder utanför unionen. Estimeringarna från de olika regressionerna indikerar att den bilaterala handeln ökat mellan EU-medlemmar med cirka 33%–40% och med cirka 3% med länder utanför unionen.

O objetivo deste trabalho é introduzir um método para a avaliação da viabilidade das exportações focando no crescimento econômico em termos de PIB do resto do mundo. Para isso são utilizados modelos locacionais e modelos de regressão baseados em modelos gravitacionais de comércio, ambos em conjunto. Este trabalho também apresenta de forma matemática e microeconômica a relação existente entre ambos os modelos. O estudo também testa o método introduzido por meio de um exemplo utilizando as exportações do complexo soja brasileiro entre 1996 e 2010. Os resultados obtidos não descartam o uso da metodologia proposta como instrumento de análise da viabilidade das exportações. / The aim of this work is to introduce a method for assessing the viability of exports focusing on economic growth of the rest of the world in terms of GDP. For this purpose, location models and regression models based on gravity models of trade are used together. This research also presents a mathematical explanation and the microeconomic relationship between both models. Also this work uses the example of Brazilian soybean complex exports between 1996 and 2010 to test the introduced method. The results do not rule out the use of the proposed methodology as a tool for analyzing the viability of exports.

Sverige är ett exportland med lång tradition av handel med omvärlden. För att kunna utnyttja våra absoluta och komparativa fördelar gäller det att vi har god kunskap om vad som påverkar vår handel. Dagens konsumenter har ett stort antal produkter att välja mellan. Handla har aldrig varit lättare och med hjälp av internet är det möjligt att handla varor från andra sidan jordklotet med minimal ansträngning. Vi ställer oss frågan, har vår språkkunskap och kultur en inverkan på den internationella handeln? Denna fråga ska försöka besvaras med hjälp av ett bland de vanligaste verktygen vid skattning av bilateral handel, den så kallade gravitationsmodellen. Gravitationsmodellen är ett bra verktyg då man med små medel kan få en hög förklaringsgrad av handeln. Eftersom kultur innehåller fler dimensioner än språk, som bland annat historia, religion, politik och värderingar, förväntades kultur ha en större inverkan på handeln. Resultatet visar att språk och kultur har en kraftig effekt på handeln och samtliga variabler visade sig vara starkt signifikanta.

The gravity model for international trade is one of the most successful empirical models in trade literature. There is a long tradition to log-linearise the multiplicative model and to estimate the parameters of interest by least squares. But this practice is inappropriate for several reasons. First of all, bilateral trade flows are frequently zero and disregarding countries that do not trade with each other produces biased results. Second, log-linearisation in the presence of heteroscedasticity leads to inconsistent estimates in general. In recent years, the Poisson gravity model along with pseudo maximum likelihood estimation methods have become popular as a way of dealing with such econometric issues as arise when dealing with origin-destination flows. But the standard Poisson model specification is vulnerable to problems of overdispersion and excess zero flows. To overcome these problems, this paper presents zero-inflated extensions of the Poisson and negative binomial specifications as viable alternatives to both the log-linear and the standard Poisson specifications of the gravity model. The performance of the alternative model specifications is assessed on a real world example, where more than half of country-level trade flows are zero. (authors' abstract) / Series: Working Papers in Regional Science