语言距离影响中间产品贸易吗?——基于贸易引力模型的实证研究

Does Language Distance Affect Trade in Intermediate Goods?——An Empirical Study Based on Extended Gravity Model

语言距离是如何影响中间产品国际贸易的?本文以WALS语料库为语言学的专业数据基础来源,将该数据库中的144种语法特征加权平均,构造从0到1的两两语言间的语言距离指数,用来刻画两国官方语言的差异。本文采用拓展的引力模型,使用2000~2014年42个国家的面板数据,探究语言距离对中间产品贸易的影响。结果发现:语言距离对中间品贸易的影响是显著负向的;随着时间的推移,语言距离对中间品贸易的负向影响在逐年减弱;相对于美国而言,中国对不同文化和不同语言的接纳度和包容度更高,语言距离对中国的中间品贸易的影响更小。本研究的结论表示我们应该重视语言距离等人文因素对中间品贸易的影响,并且为理解全球化给贸易带来的影响提供了全新的经验证据,为提升中国中间品贸易的竞争力提供了重要启示。

How does language distance affect the international trade of intermediate goods?In this paper,we use 144 grammatical features in the WALS to construct a language distance index ranging from 0 to 1 to describe the differences between official languages of two countries.We use an extended gravity model and a panel data of 42 countries from 2000 to 2014 to explore the impact of language distance on trade in intermediate goods.Our results show that language distance has a significant negative effect on intermediate goods trade and this effect decreases over time.Compared with the United States,language distance has a smaller impact on China’s intermediate goods trade,which may suggest that China has a higher degree of acceptance and tolerance to different cultures and languages when trading internationally.The results indicate that we should pay attention to the impact of culture factors,such as language distance,on the trade of intermediate goods.By analyzing the data,this paper attempts to bring novel empirical evidence for understanding the impact of globalization on trade,and to provide policy implication for improving the competitiveness of China’s intermediate goods trade.