Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/312100 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 11590
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
This paper reveals significant errors in a key variable in international trade: tariff rates. The issues arise from incomplete reporting, leading to measurement error from false interpolation by the data provider, the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS), and selection bias from dropping tariffs when no trade is recorded. I develop a novel interpolation algorithm to correct these issues and construct a global tariff dataset. Reestimating recent studies relying on WITS data highlights the importance of correcting these errors. Studies using cross-country tariff variation, such as estimates of the trade elasticity, are particularly sensitive to the mishandling of the tariff data.
Subjects: 
tariffs
MFN
preferences
trade elasticity
WITS
JEL: 
F13
F14
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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