Preferential tariffs and development of Norwegian rose import from Africa

Purpose Imports of cut roses increased after Norway implemented a preferential tariff scheme for the Least Developed Countries in 2002. When the scheme was extended to more countries in 2008 – among them Kenya – imports exploded. This article studies the subsequent changes in supply channels, import...

Free trade agreements in a small, open country: The case of Norway

Verdens handelsorganisasjon gjorde i 2018 en gjennomgang av Norges handelspolitikk, og Medin ble invitert til å skrive en vurdering av denne gjennomgangen for forskningstiddskriftet the World Economy. Medin peker på at WTOs gjennomgang hadde lite å si om Norges frihandelsavtaler utover EØS og EFTA til...

Internet use, intermediaries and international trade

This study of the relationship between internet use and international trade finds that firms in many developing countries are more likely to engage in export and/or import if they use the internet as a communication tool. An ordered probit regression indicates that internet use is positively associated...

Trade barriers or trade facilitators? The heterogeneous impact of food standards in international trade

Recent research shows that the effect of food standards can be heterogeneous across sectors or countries: they sometimes act as barriers to trade, but in other cases may lead to increased trade. Hege Medin presents empirical evidence on Norwegian seafood exports showing that foreign food standards, measured...

Upregulation of the lactate transporter monocarboxylate transporter 1 at the blood-brain barrier in a rat model of attention-deficit/hyperactivity...

The energy deficit hypothesis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggests that low lactate production by brain astrocytes causes the symptoms of the disorder. Astrocytes are the main producers of lactate in the brain; however, skeletal muscles can produce the most lactate in the body....

Customs-brokers as facilitators in international trade

Recent studies suggest that firms can reduce fixed trade costs by hiring intermediaries like trading companies. I argue that customs brokers – a type of intermediary rarely studied in economics before – can play a similar role. Using panel data of Norwegian trade transactions, I show that such brokers...

Market-specific Sunk Export Costs: The Impact of Learning and Spillovers

Firms may face sunk costs when entering an export market. Previous studies have focused on global or country-specific sunk export costs. This study analyses the importance of market-specific sunk export costs (defining ‘market’ as a product–country combination). We also study how market-specific export...

TTIP and Norway: Impact and trade policy options

This study analyzes TTIP, its implications for Norway and Norway’s trade policy choices. TTIP will hardly be concluded under Obama's presidency, but the agreement could become a reality within a few years. TTIP aims at comprehensive cooperation in the regulatory area. In the short term there will...

The reverse home market effect in exports: a cross-country study of the extensive margin of exports.

TTIP og Norge: Virkninger og handlingsvalg

Denne studien analyserer TTIP-avtalen, dens virkninger for Norge og Norges handlingsvalg. TTIP-forhandlingene blir neppe avsluttet under Obamas presidenttid, men avtalen kan bli en realitet i løpet av få år. TTIP tar sikte på omfattende samarbeid på reguleringsområdet. På kort sikt blir det begrenset...

Trade barriers or trade facilitators? On the heterogeneous impact of food standards in international trade

Darwinistisk seleksjon i en global økonomi

Det siste tiåret har det blitt utviklet en ny retning innen samfunnsøkonomisk teori om internasjonal handel, såkalt ny-ny handelsteori. Teorien er inspirert av empiriske studier av handelsdata på bedriftsnivå og kan forklare en rekke særtrekk vi observerer ved eksportører, som for eksempel at de har...

Trade barriers or trade facilitators? On the heterogeneous impact of food standards in international trade

Recent research shows that food standards can be heterogeneous across sectors or countries: they sometimes act as barriers to trade, but in other cases may lead to increased trade. We present empirical evidence from Norwegian seafood export data showing that food standards, measured by SPS and TBT notifications,...

Irreversible eksportkostnader: Hvordan de påvirker bedrifters eksportbeslutninger og internasjonal handel

Bedrifter møter ofte inngangsbarrierer i nye eksportmarkeder som gjør at de må betale irreversible eksportkostnader. Flere empiriske studier indikerer at slike kostnader er viktige. Ikke-tollmessige barrierer utgjør en betydelig andel av dagens handelshindringer og innebærer gjerne irreversible kostnader....

Økonomiske virkninger av en frihandelsavtale mellom EU og USA

Rapporten skisserer bakgrunnen for forhandlingene om en frihandelsavtale mellom USA og EU (TTIP – Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) og de mulige økonomiske virkningene. To sentrale studier, utført av CEPR i London samt IFO-instituttet i Tyskland, anslår betydelige økonomiske gevinster for...

Ny handelsteori: Implikasjoner for næringspolitikk

Ny handelsteori, som vokste frem på begynnelsen av 1980-tallet, vektla stordriftsfordeler og markedsimperfeksjoner som drivkrefter bak internasjonal handel. I motsetning til tidligere handelsteori, som hovedsakelig antok perfekt konkurranse, ga den nye handelsteorien et teoretisk grunnlag for å drive...

Transatlantisk frihandel og Norge

Forhandlingene om et handels- og investeringspartnerskap (TTIP) mellom EU og USA er svært ambisiøse og har som mål å fjerne tollbarrierer samt en rekke regulatoriske hindringer mellom de to partene. Avtalen er ment å dekke handel i både varer og tjenester samt investeringer. I rapporten analyserer vi...

TTIP - Economic Consequences and Possibilities for Third Countries: the Case of Norway

The possible realisation of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the USA may have significant impacts, also for third countries. This policy brief analyses the economic consequences and possibilities for one third country – Norway – discussing both TTIP and a separate...

New trade theory: implications for industrial policy

Sunk export costs. How they influence firms’ export decisions and international trade