Using data on the levels of economic integration agreements (EIAs) among 172 countries (35 OECD members and 137 non-members) that span the years 1995–2009, we examine the effects of immigrants and EIA levels on bilateral trade costs between immigrants’ host and home countries and whether the influence of immigrants on trade costs varies across types of EIAs. Results obtained from the estimation of a series of augmented gravity specifications using the multi-level mixed effects model (random intercepts and coefficients) indicate that increases in the level of EIA and in the stock of immigrants are associated with declines in bilateral trade costs (measured both at the aggregate level and across sectors). However, the trade costs-reduction effect of immigrants varies non-linearly with the extent to which their host and home countries are integrated. While heterogeneous across country pairs, the effect of immigrants on trade costs remains strong even among country pairs at the peak EIA level, implying that the effects of immigrants on international economic interactions is both expansive and broader than often understood.

中文翻译：

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经济一体化协议，移民和贸易成本

使用跨1995年至2009年的172个国家（35个经合组织成员和137个非成员）之间的经济一体化协议（EIA）水平的数据，我们研究了移民和EIA水平对移民所在国之间双边贸易成本的影响和本国，以及移民对贸易成本的影响是否随环境影响评估的类型而异。使用多级混合效应模型（随机截距和系数）对一系列增强重力规范进行估计所获得的结果表明，EIA水平和移民库存的增加与双边贸易成本的下降相关无论是总体层面还是跨部门）。但是，移民降低贸易成本的效果随其东道国和本国的一体化程度非线性变化。