The Impact of Single Windows on Trade

Abstract

This article is the first that quantifiesthe impact of single windows (SWs) on international tradeglobally. SWs function as a single point of entryand exit of the goods traded internationallyand are therefore intended to facilitate trade.Using a structural gravity model for a panel of 176countries from1995 to 2017, we apply a log-log and a Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator(PPML)will multi-dimensional fixed effects to evaluatethe extentto which export and import flows vary depending on whether or not countries have operational SWs. The main results from the linearized gravitymodel suggest that total trade between twocountries with functioning SWs increasesby about37percent, of which 23corresponds to exports and 14to imports.The result from the PPML estimationalso indicate a positive and significant effect, which is however much smaller in magnitude.