2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/417264It is assumed that added time to export adds cost to and lowers the volume of trade. Time delays may also affect the composition of trade and can disproportionately reduce trade in time-sensitive goods. This paper investigates the validity of these propositions using the World Bank Doing Business database and Enterprise Surveys for 64 developing countries. The authors find that in countries where there is longer time needed to export firms in time-sensitive industries are less likely to become exporters. Moreover, firms that do export have lower export intensities. Their findings imply that time to export is a significant determinant of comparative advantage. For example, consider two industries that have the same export probability and intensity - but differ in time-sensitivity by one standard deviation. Action taken to cut time to export by 50 percent for one industry opens a 6 percentage point difference between the export probabilities of the two industries. In addition, steps to cut time delays increase export intensities by 1.9 percentage points. This impact applies to industries with different productivity levels -- and those in developing countries with different income levels.application/pdftext/plainCC BY 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/World BankADVERSE EFFECTSAGGREGATE TRADEAGGREGATE TRADE FLOWSAGRICULTUREAIRAIR TRANSPORTAUTOMOTIVE SECTORBILATERAL TRADEBORDER TRADECAPITAL INVESTMENTSCAPITAL STOCKCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGESCONSUMERSCOST-BENEFIT ANALYSISCUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIONCUSTOMS CLEARANCEDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHDOMESTIC MARKETECONOMIC RESEARCHEFFICIENCY OF INFRASTRUCTUREELECTRONICS INDUSTRYEXCHANGE RATESEXPORT GROWTHEXPORT INTENSITYEXPORT MARKETEXPORT MARKETSEXPORT ORIENTATIONEXPORT PERFORMANCEEXPORTERSEXPORTSEXTERNAL FINANCEFACTOR ENDOWMENTSFINANCIAL RESOURCESFOREIGN MARKETFOREIGN MARKETSFOREIGN OWNERSHIPFOREIGN SALESFREIGHTGDPGDP PER CAPITAGLOBAL MARKETSGLOBAL TRADEGLOBAL TRADE ANALYSISGROWTH POTENTIALHUMAN CAPITALIMPACT OF TRADEIMPACT OF TRADE LIBERALIZATIONINCOMEINCOME LEVELSINCREASING RETURNSINEFFICIENCYINFLATION RATESINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINLAND TRANSPORTINSPECTIONINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTINVENTORYMACHINERYMANUFACTURING PRODUCTIVITYMARGINAL EFFECTSMARKET DEVELOPMENTMARKET SHARESMETHODOLOGYPATTERN OF TRADEPRODUCTIVITYREGULATORY POLICIESRESEARCH WORKING PAPERSSHIPPING CONTAINERSSUNK COSTSSURVEY DATASURVEY INSTRUMENTSTARIFF BARRIERSTARIFF RATESTECHNIQUESTERMS OF TRADETOTAL COSTSTRADE BARRIERSTRADE COSTSTRADE EFFECTTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FLOWSTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE PATTERNSTRADE POLICIESTRADE POLICYTRADE THEORIESTRADE VOLUMESTRANSITTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORT MODESTRANSPORT SYSTEMSTRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION COSTTRANSPORTATION COSTSVALIDITYVALUE ADDEDVOLUME OF TRADEWAGESWORLD TRADEWORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION