Explaining the volume of North-South Trade in Ireland: a Gravity Model Approach.

The authors address the question of whether the volume of manufacturing trade between Norther Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is more or less than might be expected in the light of international experience. They estimate a gravity equation for bilateral trade between 28 developed countries from 1970 to 1992. Using this as their benchmark, the authors find that North-South trade in Ireland is greater than rather less than might be expected. The finding is robust with respect to a wide range of alternative specifications and alternative ways of measuring the key variables.