ACADEMIC PROJECT · 2024
National Borders (Still) Matter
A gravity-model exploration of regional trade within Canada and between Canadian provinces and U.S. states.
The question
How does an international border relate to trade flows after accounting for economic size and distance? This project revisits the question in John McCallum’s border-effects research using 2019 regional data.
The work
- Prepared regional trade, economic, and geographic data.
- Calculated distances and compared multiple regression specifications.
- Used R for analysis and Quarto for presenting code, tables, and interpretation.
- Examined border effects alongside economic size and geographic distance.
Skills demonstrated
Data preparation, quantitative modeling, comparison of model specifications, and communicating economic reasoning in a research document.
Project materials
The project repository includes the R and Quarto source, data files, and original report.
Scope & limitations
This is an academic project. Canadian population-centroid estimates were AI-assisted, as disclosed in the original report; those inputs and the modeling assumptions should be reviewed before relying on the numerical results.
The study compares modeled trade relationships; it does not isolate the causal effect of NAFTA.