Empirical Tests of the Factor Abundance Theory: What Do They Tell Us?

Beamer and Levinsohn (1995) have recently proposed a formula for empirical work in international macroeconomics summarized by the injunction to "Estimate, Don't Test!" This is based on a perception that much of the empirical work has failed to be influential as it tests propositions we know ex ante to be false. We argue that the empirical work has been more influential than they suggest. We use the example of recent work on the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek model of trade to show how a cumulation of tests may be influential, even as no one test on its own would be.