TY  - JOUR
AU  - Jacks,David S.
AU  - Pendakur,Krishna
TI  - Global Trade and the Maritime Transport Revolution
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14139
PY  - 2008
Y2  - June 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14139
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14139.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David S. Jacks
Department of Economics
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
CANADA
Tel: 778/782-5392
Fax: 778/782-5944
E-Mail: dsjacks@gmail.com

Krishna Pendakur
Department of Economics
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
Canada
E-Mail: pendakur@sfu.ca
AB  - What is the role of transport improvements in globalization?  We argue that the nineteenth century is the ideal testing ground for this question: freight rates fell on average by 50% while global trade increased 400% from 1870 to 1913.  We estimate the first indices of bilateral freight rates for the period and directly incorporate these into a standard gravity model.  We also take the endogeneity of bilateral trade and freight rates seriously and propose an instrumental variables approach.  The results are striking as we find no evidence that the maritime transport revolution was the primary driver of the late nineteenth century global trade boom.  Rather, the most powerful forces driving the boom were those of income growth and convergence.
ER  -