Identifier

etd-08242015-174230

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Agricultural Economics

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation offers three independent studies that each contributes to the literature on trade facilitation. The papers are built on the gravity model framework where the relationship between trade facilitation variables and the volume of agricultural exports across the border are examined. To deal with the issue of endogeneity, instrumental variable regression is used. The study also corrects for sample-selection bias present in the trade data. The first paper examines the role of e-governance on bilateral agricultural trade. The study finds that better quality of e-governance promotes agricultural exports. Specifically, according to the findings of the paper, the quality of e-governance in the exporting country increases the volume of agricultural exports across the border. However, the quality of e-governance prevailing in the importing country does not influence agricultural exports significantly. The second paper deals with the effect of corruption on bilateral agricultural trade. Using different measures of corruption this paper examines the role of institutional quality on agricultural exports. The study finds both trade-enhancing and trade-taxing role of corruption on agricultural exports. Furthermore, according to the findings of the study, the effects are much more prominent for the degree of corruption in the exporting country than the importing country. The third paper studies the impact of Internet adoption on bilateral trade. This paper distinguishes between agricultural and non-agricultural commodities. According to the findings of the paper, Internet penetration encourages non-agricultural exports but it does not have any significant impact on agricultural trade.

Date

2015

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Student has submitted appropriate documentation to restrict access to LSU for 365 days after which the document will be released for worldwide access.

Committee Chair

Kennedy, Lynn P.

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.3106

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