Why Do Countries Import Fakes?

Annex B. Description of data

 

Variable	Variable description	Source	Source description
Variable to be explained
Value of fake imports in log	Estimated value of fake imports by destination economy based on seizures of small packages.	OECD/EUIPO global customs database
Explanatory variables
Value of imports in log	Value of imports by country in USD	UN Comtrade database	The United Nations Comtrade database aggregates detailed global annual and monthly trade statistics by product and trading partner. Data compiled by the United Nations Statistics Division covers approximately 200 countries and represents more than 99% of the world's merchandise trade
Quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure	Logistics professionals' perception of country's quality of trade and transport related infrastructure (e.g. ports, railroads, roads, information technology), on a rating ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). Scores are averaged across all respondents	Logisitc Performance Index Surveys (World Bank and Turku School of Economics	The LPI is based on a worldwide survey of operators on the ground (global freight forwarders and express carriers), providing feedback on the logistics “friendliness” of the countries in which they operate and those with which they trade. They combine indepth knowledge of the countries in which they operate with informed qualitative assessments of other countries where they trade and experience of global logistics environment. Feedback from operators is supplemented with quantitative data on the performance of key components of the logistics chain in the country of work
Population aged 65 and +	Population ages 65 and above as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship	World Bank
Individuals using Internet	Percentage of individuals using the Internet	International Telecommunication Union, ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database
GDP per capita	GDP per capita by country in USD	World Bank national accounts data
Gross graduation ratio (labelled “education” in our model) of tertiary education	Number of graduates from first degree programs (at ISCED 6 and 7) expressed as a percentage of the population of the theoretical graduation age of the most common first degree program.	UNESCO Institute for Statistics via the World Bank databank