Export taxes

I am interested in trade policy and the main subject of my PhD research is export taxes, i.e. taxes payable to exporting country when goods leave the customs territory.

Chapter 1. 
Panel Export Taxes (PET) Dataset: New Data on Export Tax Rates (pdf)
Abstract: This paper describes a newly collected dataset on export tax rates, which provides a comprehensive coverage for 20 countries, 2 time periods and all products at HS6 level. Export tax rates are based on national government documentation, including preferential provisions for partner countries. The data are organized in a harmonized and comparable format, including ad-valorem equivalents of specific taxes. The dataset can contribute to the empirical analysis of export taxes – an increasingly applied trade policy instrument, which merits further attention from academia and policy makers alike. Furthermore, the paper contains literature review and stylized facts highlighting various aspects of export taxes.

Chapter 2. 
Trade Effects of Export Taxes (pdf)
Abstract: Export taxes usage has recently risen. They are widely presumed to affect trade, but the lack of data has prevented a systematic evaluation of their trade effects. Based on a new dataset of tax rates at the product level, this paper estimates the distortionary trade effects of export taxes. The results, which are based on theory-consistent estimation of a structural gravity model, indicate that the elasticity of trade quantities to tax is -1.8 on average, rising to -5.5 for extractive sectors. The effects are driven by homogeneous goods. The results suggest that the burden of export taxes is shared by exporters and importers and that export taxes play a role in the rise of world prices. 

PhD Thesis
The complete thesis "Three Essays on Export Taxes" is available here (pdf).

Datasets on export taxes

The Panel Export Taxes (PET) Dataset 


I have constructed PET Dataset while working on my PhD thesis:

• Export tax rates at product level (6 digit, in HS Rev. 2002) for 20 countries and 2 years (dta or xlsx) 
• Countries applying export taxes at least once in 2007-2012 (dta or xls)
• ISO3 numeric codes for countries  (dta or xls) and HS Revision 2 classification for product codes and descriptions  (dta or xls) used in the PET Dataset.

Please cite as:
Olga Solleder. Panel Export Taxes (PET) Dataset: New Data on Export Tax Rates. Working Paper No 7-2013. Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. 

Building this data set was a long and tedious project. If you find the data useful I would appreciate to learn about your work and results, e.g. by email. 

Please contact me for permission if you wish to re-publish or disseminate my PET Dataset.

The methodology, including the description of the variables is in the above mentioned paper.

Complementary data:

• OECD Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials
• OECD Export Restrictions on Primary Agriculture Products
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IPFRI)

            Economics of export taxation in a context of food crisis (2010)
            Antoine Bouët and David Laborde

• Global Trade Alert (GTA). Policies that affect world trade.
• European Commision, DG Trade. Market Access Database
• International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium (IATRC)

            The Role of Export Restrictions in Agricultural Trade (2017)
            Carmen Estrades, Manuel Flores, and Guillermo Lezama​