Productive Capabilities and Trade Agreements Database (PCTAD): A Panel Dataset of Bilateral Trade Relations, 2011-201

This dataset provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing the relationship between productive capabilities and trade agreement formation across 95 countries from 2011 to 2017. It combines bilateral trade agreement status, productive capability measures, and sectoral productivity differentials for 8,575 unique country pairs, creating a novel resource for studying economic development and trade integration.
The database merges information from multiple authoritative sources: trade agreement indicators from the CEPII Gravity database, maritime distances from CERDI-SeaDistance, productive capability measures from UNCTAD's Productive Capabilities Index (PCI), and sectoral productivity differentials from the RPROD database. Each observation represents a bilateral country relationship in a given year, with detailed information on trade agreement status, economic capabilities, geographic distance, and productivity measures.
Key variables include:

-Binary indicators for active trade agreements
-Productive Capability Index (PCI) for both origin and destination countries
-Balassa-Samuelson effect measures capturing sectoral productivity differentials
-Bilateral maritime distances and connectivity measures
-Trade flow values and related economic indicators

This unified dataset is particularly valuable for researchers studying:

-Trade agreement formation and economic development
-Productive capability thresholds in international trade
-Regional patterns in economic integration
-Development policy and trade liberalization sequencing

The data structure allows for both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, providing a rich foundation for investigating how domestic economic capabilities influence international trade relations. The time period (2011-2017) represents a relatively stable era in international trade, making it ideal for studying structural relationships without the confounding effects of major global disruptions.

本数据集搭建了一套综合分析框架，用于探析2011至2017年间95个国家的生产能力与贸易协定缔结之间的关联。其整合了8575组独特国家对的双边贸易协定状态、生产能力测度指标与部门生产率差异数据，为经济发展与贸易一体化研究提供了全新的研究资源。

该数据库整合了多类权威数据源的信息：贸易协定指标取自CEPII引力数据库（CEPII Gravity database），海运距离数据来自CERDI-SeaDistance数据库，生产能力测度指标取自联合国贸易和发展会议（UNCTAD）的生产能力指数（Productive Capabilities Index, PCI），部门生产率差异数据则来自RPROD数据库。每条观测值对应某一给定年份中的双边国家关系，涵盖贸易协定状态、经济能力、地理距离与生产率测度等详细信息。

核心变量包括：
- 生效贸易协定的二元指示变量
- 起源国与目的国的生产能力指数（PCI）
- 刻画部门生产率差异的巴拉萨-萨缪尔森效应（Balassa-Samuelson effect）测度指标
- 双边海运距离与连通性测度指标
- 贸易流量值及相关经济指标

这款整合型数据集对于以下研究领域的学者极具价值：
- 贸易协定缔结与经济发展研究
- 国际贸易中的生产能力阈值研究
- 经济一体化的区域模式研究
- 发展政策与贸易自由化时序研究

该数据集的数据结构支持截面分析与纵向分析，为探究国内经济能力如何影响国际贸易关系提供了丰富的研究基础。其涵盖的2011至2017年时间段属于国际贸易领域相对稳定的时期，能够有效规避重大全球动荡带来的混杂效应，非常适合用于研究结构性关联。