Exploring the Links Between Transaction Costs, income Distribution and Economic Performance in a Case Study for Colombia

Standard international trade models have consistently produced results that, compared ex post with real world data, show the right sign but much smaller magnitudes. Besides, for the case of developing countries, these same models predict that unskilled labour would gain from liberalization, and this too contrasts with empirical evidence. This paper proposes a new approach by considering transaction costs reductions as an important factor explaining developing countries' actual performances.