Despite efforts to increase integration within Africa, product markets remain segmented between countries. This paper examines the magnitude of price gaps, known as the border effect, between Lesotho and South Africa using retail price data for 49 products in 35 cities over the period 2006–2009. Using a production–consumption pair approach, we estimate that crossing the border between South Africa and Lesotho is associated with an absolute product price gap that widened from 18% in 2006 to 24% in 2009. The structure of relative prices also differs markedly revealing a lack of convergence to a common set of internal relative prices. These results are robust to the choice of alternative production centres in South Africa and the imposition of distance thresholds between region pairs. The results indicate that the border between South Africa and Lesotho remains an impediment to trade flows and price competition, despite their joint membership in a customs union and monetary area.

中文翻译：

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莱索托和南非之间的边界规模和产品市场整合：生产-消费方法

尽管努力加强非洲内部的一体化，但产品市场仍然在国家之间分割。本文使用 2006 年至 2009 年间莱索托和南非 35 个城市 49 种产品的零售价格数据，研究了被称为边界效应的价格差距的大小。使用生产-消费对方法，我们估计跨越南非和莱索托边界的产品绝对价格差距从 2006 年的 18% 扩大到 2009 年的 24%。相对价格结构也显着不同缺乏与一组共同的内部相对价格趋同。这些结果对于南非替代生产中心的选择和区域对之间距离阈值的强加是稳健的。