Trade Liberalization and Within-Country Disparity in Developing Countries: Applications of Satellite Imagery in International Economics

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K18582
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 7:Economics, business administration, and related fields
• Research Institution: Wakayama University
• Principal Investigator: Okabe Misa 和歌山大学, 経済学部, 准教授 (20434649)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 貿易自由化 / 地域間所得格差 / 人工衛星画像 / 地域経済統合 / ASEAN

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project aims to provide an empirical analysis of regional income disparities in developing countries under trade liberalisation using satellite imagery. The analysis is conducted for ASEAN members. The results show that trade liberalisation raises overall income levels in ASEAN, while the gains from trade are greater in urban areas, suggesting that trade liberalisation tends to increase inter-regional income disparities. On the other hand, the analysis focusing on rural areas in land border regions found that the development of transport infrastructure and improved market access to neighbouring cities are important factors for rural areas to benefit from trade. For developing countries seeking to achieve economic development and reduce inter-regional disparities through trade liberalisation, it is important to create the conditions for the smooth participation of rural areas in international trade.

Free Research Field

国際経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

発展途上国は、グローバル化する経済のもとで、持続的な経済成長と国内の所得格差の縮小という二つの課題に対処しつつ経済発展を進める必要がある。本研究は人工衛星画像を活用して従来の統計では困難であった詳細地域レベルの経済活動水準を捉えることで、貿易自由化の影響が途上国内の地域レベルの経済活動水準に与える影響を明らかにした。貿易自由化のもとで経済成長を実現しつつ、地域間格差を縮小するための政策的示唆を提示することができた。