In postwar time series data, the elasticity of cyclical fluctuations in import volumes to measures of economic activity is well over two. A large class of models of international trade predict this elasticity to be one. This presents a challenge to these models with otherwise well regarded...

Quantitative results from a large class of structural gravity models of international trade depend critically on a single parameter governing the elasticity of trade with respect to trade frictions. We provide a new method to estimate this elasticity and illustrate the merits of our approach...