Impact of institutional and cultural distance on ASEAN’s trade efficiency

This paper aims to analyze the impact of institutional and cultural distance on ASEAN’s trade efficiency using bilateral trade data from 2006 to 2016. The authors first employ an improved version of the stochastic frontier model to control endogeneity in estimating efficiency scores and then apply a sys-GMM model to estimate the impact of various distances on trade efficiency. The major findings are summarized as follows: first, trade efficiency of ASEAN’s with the rest of the world is moderate, ranging from 0.48 to 0.60, and shows a downward trend. This indicates that considerable trade potential exists between ASEAN countries and the rest of the world. Second, institutional and cultural distance negatively affects ASEAN’s trade efficiency. Third, trade freedom is an important factor that positively influences ASEAN’s trade efficiency. Based on these findings, this study concludes that efforts to reduce differences in institutions and culture and to promote trade liberalization are strongly suggested as remedies for ASEAN countries to turn potential trade performance into actual trade performance. (Published in Special Issue Recent developments in international economics)

本研究旨在利用2006年至2016年的双边贸易数据，探究制度距离与文化距离对东盟（ASEAN）贸易效率的影响。作者首先采用改进后的随机前沿模型（stochastic frontier model）控制效率得分估计过程中的内生性问题，随后运用系统广义矩估计（sys-GMM）模型估算各类距离对贸易效率的影响效应。主要研究结论总结如下：其一，东盟与世界其他经济体的贸易效率处于中等水平，区间为0.48至0.60，并呈现下降趋势，这表明东盟各国与世界其他经济体之间存在可观的贸易潜力；其二，制度距离与文化距离对东盟贸易效率产生显著负向影响；其三，贸易自由度是影响东盟贸易效率的重要正向驱动因素。基于上述研究结论，本研究提出建议：东盟各国应致力于缩小制度与文化差异、推动贸易自由化，以此作为将潜在贸易绩效转化为实际贸易绩效的有效路径。本研究发表于《国际经济学最新进展》特刊。