Gravitational approach to modeling interregional and international trade: cross-country analysis

Department Information 

Department Name: [Research Laboratory for Modeling Socio-Economic Processes, School of Economics and Management (SEM), Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU)]

Head of the Department 

Name: Alexander Yuryevich Filatov, Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics, Head of the Research and Educational Laboratory for Modeling Socio-Economic Processes, SEM FEFU 

Profile: [Google Scholar]

Field of Science and Research Directions 

According to the International Science Map of the Olympiad: Economics and Econometrics

Current Research Topics of the Department 

- Sustainable regional development: effective economic mechanisms for market organization and entrepreneurial competencies of the population under uncertainty (balance of safety and risk), FZNS-2023-0016, 2023-25 (state assignment of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science); 

- Market organization theory; 

- Theory of economic mechanisms; 

- Experimental and behavioral economics; 

- Spatial economics. 

Information about the Research Project 

1. Project Title:Gravitational approach to modeling interregional and international trade: cross-country analysis. 

2. Field of Science and Research Directions: Economics and Econometrics. 

3. Working Languages:Russian and English. 

4. Project Goal:

 To study interregional and international trade using gravitational models and compare the results obtained from data of various countries. 

Project Tasks: 

   1. Estimation of trade elasticity in the studied countries based on the economic size of regions (GRP) and the distance between them. 

   2. Identification of additional factors significantly affecting trade: neighboring regions, presence or absence of railways, land or sea borders with other countries, share of the industrial sector, unemployment, price levels, etc. 

   3. Study of various methods for measuring distances between regions and the impact of the chosen calculation method on quantitative model estimates. 

   4. Analysis of the robustness of the obtained coefficient estimates under changes in model settings: observation period, estimation method, included regressors, distance matrix calculation method, etc. 

   5. Comparative analysis of results obtained for different countries. Economic explanation of the identified differences. Policy recommendations. 

 Scientific Approach: 

   The project uses the gravitational approach to trade modeling, proposed in [Tinbergen, 1962] and developed in numerous subsequent works. For example, results of a meta-study on international trade for different commodity groups and world regions are presented in [Head, Mayer, 2014]. Estimation methods include classical OLS on adjusted data samples, Tobit models, Heckman filter, and Poisson regression. A similar study conducted on Russian data is presented in [Filatov, Salnikov, 2025]. 

Information about the Project Leader 

Name: Alexander Yuryevich Filatov, Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics, Head of the Research Laboratory for Modeling Socio-Economic Processes, SEM FEFU, Leading Researcher at the Educational and Research Laboratory of Experimental Economics and Game Theory, SEM FEFU, Associate Professor at the Department of Socio-Economic Research and Regional Development, SEM FEFU. 

Profile: [Google Scholar]

- Research and Teaching Experience: 26 years. 

- Research Interests: Market organization theory; theory of economic mechanisms; experimental and behavioral economics; spatial economics; applied econometrics. 

Postdoc Vacancy Description 

- Position and Contract Duration: Research Associate, 3 years. 

- Research Tasks for the Postdoc:

  1. Collection and preliminary processing of static data on trade volumes and other indicators at the regional level for the applicant's home country and/or other countries of interest. 

  2. Construction of a series of gravitational trade models. Identification of significant factors affecting interregional and international trade volumes. 

  3. Analysis of coefficient robustness under different model specifications, expanded regressors, and changes in the distance matrix calculation method. 

  4. Cross-country analysis of obtained elasticities and other model coefficients. Economic explanation of identified differences, if any. 

  5. Analysis of outlier regions. 

- Requirements for the Postdoc: 

  1. Familiarity with the basics of the gravitational approach in economics and methods of spatial economics in general. 

  2. Ability to use econometric tools in applied research. 

  3. Knowledge of Russian or English. 

-Expected Results: Publications indexed in scientometric databases, intellectual property, participation in scientific conferences, preparation of grant applications, supervision of student research projects. 
- Salary: Starting from 120,000 RUB per month. 

- Additional Support: Discussed based on competition results.
Department Information 

Department Name:

[Research Laboratory for Modeling Socio-Economic Processes, School of Economics and Management, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU)]

Head of the Department 

Name: Alexander Yuryevich Filatov, Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics, Head of the Research and Educational Laboratory for Modeling Socio-Economic Processes, SEM FEFU 

Profile: [Google Scholar]

Field of Science and Research Directions
  
According to the International Science Map of the Olympiad: Economics and Econometrics

 Current Research Topics of the Department 

- Sustainable regional development: effective economic mechanisms for market organization and entrepreneurial competencies of the population under uncertainty (balance of safety and risk), FZNS-2023-0016, 2023-25 (state assignment of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science); 

- Market organization theory; 

- Theory of economic mechanisms; 

- Experimental and behavioral economics; 

- Spatial economics. 

Information about the Research Project 

1. Project Title: Use of multi-object auctions for efficient allocation of limited resources. 

2. Field of Science and Research Directions: Economics and Econometrics. 

3. Working Languages: Russian and English. 

4. Project Goal:

   Development, theoretical and experimental research of an efficient mechanism for allocating limited resources based on multi-object auctions. 

5. Project Tasks: 

   1. Cross-country (including the applicant's home country and/or other countries of interest) review of methods for allocating limited resources, such as directive allocation based on historical principles, performance-based allocation, directive allocation without formalized criteria, economic allocation based on dynamic pricing, etc. 

   2. Cross-country (including the applicant's home country and/or other countries of interest) review of markets using multi-object auctions: currency and stock markets, carbon markets, electricity markets, markets for fishing and seafood quotas, logging permits, vehicle ownership, access to nature reserves, etc. 

   3. Analysis of main formats of multi-object auctions: generalized first-price auction, Vickrey-Clarke-Groves mechanism, Ausubel auction, uniform-price auction, and study of their advantages and disadvantages. 

   4. Design of an auction for a specific product considering its unique features.
 
   5. Theoretical and experimental analysis of the proposed mechanism's efficiency. 

   6. Scientific Approach:

The project will employ methods from the theory of economic mechanisms, particularly the theory of multi-object auctions. Efficiency research will be based on game-theoretic models of rational agents as well as behavioral characteristics of real auction participants, taking into account market specifics studied through surveys and laboratory experiments. 

Information about the Project Leader 

Name: Alexander Yuryevich Filatov, Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics, Head of the Research Laboratory for Modeling Socio-Economic Processes, SEM FEFU, Leading Researcher at the Educational and Research Laboratory of Experimental Economics and Game Theory, SEM FEFU, Associate Professor at the Department of Socio-Economic Research and Regional Development, SEM FEFU. 

Profile: [Google Scholar]

- Research and Teaching Experience: 26 years. 

- Research Interests: Market organization theory; theory of economic mechanisms; experimental and behavioral economics; spatial economics; applied econometrics. 

Postdoc Vacancy Description 

- Position and Contract Duration:Research Associate, 3 years. 

- Research Tasks for the Postdoc:

  1. Review of limited resource allocation methods used across different markets in various countries (including the applicant's home country) and markets already utilizing multi-object auction mechanisms. 

  2. Review of main multi-object auction formats, analysis of their pros and cons, particularly in the context of application to specific markets considering consumer behavioral patterns. 

  3. Design of a mechanism tailored to a specific market and product, considering its unique features. Theoretical justification of the proposed mechanism's advantages over existing allocation methods. 

  4. Analysis of consumer behavioral deviations using surveys and laboratory experiments. Adjustment of mechanism design to minimize negative effects. 

- Requirements for the Postdoc:

  1. Understanding of microeconomic analysis methods, market organization theory, experimental and behavioral economics, game theory. 

  2. Familiarity with the basics of multi-object auction theory and economic mechanism design theory. 

  3. Knowledge of Russian or English. 

- Expected Results: Publications indexed in scientometric databases, intellectual property, participation in scientific conferences, preparation of grant applications, supervision of student research projects. 

- Salary: Starting from 120,000 RUB per month. 

- Additional Support: Discussed based on competition results.