INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY AND TRADE: WHICH INSTITUTIONS? WHICH TRADE?

Using a panel of countries over 1990–2000, this paper examines the extent to which different dimensions of the institutional framework affect total exports, exports of manufactured goods, and exports of nonmanufactured goods. It is observed that exports of manufactured goods are positively affected by the quality of institutions but neither total exports nor nonmanufactured exports. The latter may even correlate negatively with the quality of institutions. The results are robust to estimation methods. ( JEL F14, F15, O17) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]