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This paper studies the importance of intangible barriers to trade in explaining variation in disaggregate international trade. The analysis is based on a sample of 55 countries for the year 2000. We explicitly focus on the importance of institutional and cultural dimensions of distance. Our results reveal there is substantial heterogeneity in the impact of intangible barriers for different product groups. More specifically, we find that cultural differences do not affect total trade significantly, whereas trade in homogeneous goods is significantly negatively affected. A possible explanation for this pattern is that the substitution effect between trade and FDI is stronger for more differentiated products. JEL code:F14

We study the behavioural responses to kinks and notches in the Dutch system of cash transfers, using data on the universe of Dutch households for the period 2007-2014. We typically do not find statistically significant evidence of bunching around kinks or notches, neither in income nor in wealth. This finding is robust across different household types and modes of employment. We consider potential mechanisms that can explain this apparent lack of bunching.

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