한국의 주요국에 대한 수출입 구조 분석

An Analysis of Korean Import and Export Structures with Major Trading Partners: An Application of the Weighted Gravity Model

Purpose - This paper uses the weighted gravity model to analyze Korean bilateral trade flows by employing a principal component. Design/methodology/approach - Many previous empirical analyses have dealt with geographic distance, cultural differences, economic system, regional integration agreements, and common language between the trading partners. However, these factors have been treated as equally weighted. Findings - The panel OLS results suggest that the effect of the distance between major trading partners has overly been estimated in the trade transaction cost. Moreover, qualitative factors, especially, language and cultural similarities play a crucial role in the trade transaction cost. In some cases, these affect the trade transaction cost more than income does. The extent of increase in the domestic income and population is more influential than that in the trading partners. Increasing the population in the trading partners reduces the volume of trade, which results in decreasing the per capita income in these countries. Research implications or Originality - This implies that the demand-sided factor dominates international trade. Overall, it could be concluded that the Korean trading pattern has been converted from the supply to the demand side. Such changes should be taken into account when establishing further trading policy in Korea.