Australia's export potential: An exploratory analysis

A country's inability to export to its potential is a reflection of institutional and infrastructural impediments and rigidities that exist at home as well as in its trading partners. Distinguishing these rigidities as 'behind the border' factors and 'beyond the border' factors, respectively, this paper examines the impact of 'behind the border' factors on Australia's export potential. The hypothesis tested in this paper is that the 'behind the border' factors are important in almost all exporting countries and exert negative effects on export potential of the countries. Australia, which is relatively open among the resource-based developed economies, is chosen for testing the hypothesis by estimating a stochastic frontier gravity model using bilateral data from 2006 to 2008 on trade with its key trading partners. The empirical analysis indicates that even in the case of Australia, which is a developed country, 'behind the border' factors are important in explaining the reasons for its failure to export to its full potential.