Replication package for "Measuring trade costs and analyzing the determinants of trade growth between Cambodia and major trading partners: 1993-2019"

<b>Background: </b>Like in many other least-developed countries (LDCs), high trade costs have long been a major barrier to Cambodia's trade integration. Despite their practical significance and increasing policy attention in the country, little is known about these costs.<b>Purpose: </b>This study aims to measure Cambodia's trade costs and explore the driving forces behind the growth of its bilateral trade.<b>Methodology:</b> A micro-founded measure of trade costs introduced by Novy (2013) is employed to quantify the bilateral trade costs between Cambodia and its top 30 trading partners from 1993 to 2019.<b>Originality/value: </b>This study contributes to the literature on Cambodia’s trade costs, which has received limited attention. This research work is the first to provide a comprehensive measure of trade costs, including a wide range of barriers, such as tariffs, transportation costs, border-related costs, infrastructure inefficiencies, and other factors impeding Cambodia's bilateral trade flows.<b>Key findings: </b>We find that Cambodia's average trade costs decreased by 35.43% between 1993 and 2019. Fluctuations in average trade costs persisted until 2014, despite Cambodia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2004. Since then, these costs have declined more rapidly. Cambodia's bilateral trade costs are lower with its major trading partners in Southeast Asia and East Asia than with those in South Asia, Oceania, Europe, and North America. Cambodia's average trade costs with developing and emerging economies are lower than those with developed economies. Between 2014 and 2019, Cambodia experienced a notable decline in average trade costs with trading partners along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) corridors by 34.78%, twice as fast as with non-BRI trading partners. Regarding the decomposition of trade growth, we find that the expansion of Cambodian trade from 1993 to 2019 was driven by three factors: the rise in income (59.65%), the decline in trade costs (56.69%), and the decline in multilateral resistance (-16.34%).<b>Research implications and recommendations: </b>The findings of this study have significant implications for a better understanding of Cambodia's development toward global trade integration over the past two decades. Our results suggest that Cambodia can optimize its trade expansion potential by focusing on its relations with trading partners exhibiting high economic growth potential and those achieving substantial reductions in trade costs.

背景：与诸多其他最不发达国家（Least Developed Countries, LDCs）一样，高额贸易成本长期以来始终是制约柬埔寨贸易一体化进程的核心障碍。尽管此类成本具备重要现实意义，且在柬埔寨国内逐步获得政策层面的重视，但目前学界对其相关研究仍较为有限。研究目的：本研究旨在测算柬埔寨的贸易成本，并探究其双边贸易增长的核心驱动因素。研究方法：本研究采用Novy（2013）提出的微观基础型贸易成本测算框架，对1993年至2019年间柬埔寨与其前30大贸易伙伴之间的双边贸易成本进行量化测算。研究创新性与学术价值：现有关于柬埔寨贸易成本的研究关注度偏低，本研究为此领域的学术文献补充了重要成果。本研究首次对柬埔寨贸易成本开展全面测算，涵盖关税、运输成本、边境相关成本、基础设施低效以及其他阻碍双边贸易流动的各类壁垒因素。主要研究发现：研究结果显示，1993年至2019年间，柬埔寨平均贸易成本累计下降35.43%。尽管柬埔寨于2004年加入世界贸易组织（World Trade Organization, WTO），但其平均贸易成本的波动态势一直持续至2014年，此后此类成本的下降速率显著加快。相较于南亚、大洋洲、欧洲及北美地区的贸易伙伴，柬埔寨与东南亚、东亚主要贸易伙伴的双边贸易成本更低。柬埔寨与发展中及新兴经济体的平均贸易成本，低于其与发达经济体的平均贸易成本。2014年至2019年间，柬埔寨与“一带一路”倡议（Belt and Road Initiative, BRI）沿线贸易伙伴的平均贸易成本显著下降34.78%，降幅为其与非“一带一路”倡议贸易伙伴的两倍。针对贸易增长的分解分析表明，1993年至2019年柬埔寨贸易扩张受三大因素驱动：收入增长（59.65%）、贸易成本下降（56.69%）以及多边阻力下降（-16.34%）。研究启示与政策建议：本研究结果对于深入理解柬埔寨近二十年来在全球贸易一体化进程中的发展路径具有重要意义。研究结果表明，柬埔寨可通过重点深化与经济增长潜力较高、且贸易成本大幅下降的贸易伙伴的合作关系，优化其贸易扩张潜力。