Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On the elasticity of substitution in international trade

  • Published:
De Economist Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Attention for biases in the measurement of the Elasticity of Substitution (ES) in applied international trade flow modelling has a long tradition. It was mostly directed at the issue of the acceptability of the (often implicit) assumptions made on the parameters of the underlying demand model. The purpose of this paper is to prove both theoretically and with the help of some numerical examples that another strong potential source of biases in assessingES's in trade modelling does exist which gained remarkably little attention in the literature, namely, the regional pattern of international trade flows.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Lächler, U. (1985), ‘The Elasticity of Substitution between Imported and Domestically Produced Goods in Germany,’Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 12, pp. 74–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Learner, E.E. and R.M. Stern (1970),Quantitative International Economics, Chicago.

  • Polak, J.J. (1950), ‘Note on the Measurement of Elasticity of Substitution in International Trade,’Review of Economics and Statistics, XXXII, pp. 16–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, J.D. (1973), ‘Beyond (But Back To?) the Elasticity of Substitution in International Trade,’European Economic Review, 4, pp. 381–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, R.M., J. Francis and B. Schumacher (1976),Price Elasticities in International Trade. An Annotated Bibliography, London.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

    S. Brakman

  2. Department of Economics, University of Groningen, and Open University, The Netherlands

    C. J. Jepma

Authors
  1. S. Brakman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. J. Jepma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brakman, S., Jepma, C.J. On the elasticity of substitution in international trade. De Economist 138, 63–72 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01718390

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01718390

Keywords

Search

Navigation