Investigating How Nontariff Measures Impact the Turfgrass Seed Trade

Abstract

Turfgrass seed, a living organism, is facing more stringent trade regulations compared with nonliving products. We applied multiple empirical approaches to explore the impact of these regulations on trade flows in grass seeds. We constructed a series of novel variables to measure these regulations, such as environment regulation stringency, pre-shipment inspections, market conditions, and product requirements. Our results showed that nontariff trade measures had substantial impacts on the trade of grass seeds. These measures sometimes worked as barriers to trade and at other times worked as catalysts for trade.

Keywords

• environment stringency
• extensive margin
• gravity model
• intensive margin
• product inspections