Investment in agricultural sector, FDI, and Technological innovation.

I did an article on International trade and Real exchange rate dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa, and what i did was to unbundled the variables of Balance of Payment (Export/Import (current account), capital account (borrowings and Investments/remittances), Reserve and Trade openess all relative to GDP.

Many thanks to Muhammad Saqib Irshad for his interesting question, and to Nazir Muhammad Abdullahi and Kenneth Anyalechi for their contributions.

Far from being an expert on the subject, I take the liberty to add some elements. Such as: urbanization levels, proximity of cities to the sea, population density and growth of urban agglomerates, economy of scale of companies, technological concentration, transportation costs, international supply chains, trade specialization, productivity level of companies, trade pacts, language, culture.

I apologize Saqib for the vague and general nature of the response. We look forward to the contributions of more colleagues who are working on these issues, which will help us to clarify and order the existing knowledge.

Best regards and thanks

Fernando (from Argentina)

Muchas gracias a Muhammad Saqib Irshad por su interesante pregunta, y a Nazir Muhammad Abdullahi y Kenneth Anyalechi por sus aportes.

Lejos de ser un experto en el tema, me tomo el atrevimiento de adicionar algunos elementos. Como ser: Niveles de urbanización, cercanía al mar de las ciudades, densidad demográfica y crecimiento de los aglomerados urbanos, economía de escala de las empresas, concentración tecnológica, costos de transporte, cadenas internacionales de suministro, especialización comercial, nivel de productividad de las empresas, pactos comerciales, lenguaje, cultura.

Le pido disculpas Saqib por el carácter vago y general de la respuesta. Esperamos los aportes de más colegas que están trabajando estos temas, que nos ayuden precisar y ordenar el conocimiento existente.

Un saludo y gracias

Fernando (desde Argentina)

You can use the Economic freedom index (heritage), the Logistic performance index (world bank), TBT and SPS (OMC) measures, free trade agreemnets, etc.

It is important to see the new evidence for robust estimation. I have a pre print article explaining exactly how to use it. Link: Preprint International trade and the gravity model: recent evidence i...

Best regards!

Carolina