Bilateral Trade and Similarity of Income Distributions: The Role of Second Moments

We use an augmented gravity model to revisit the effect of similarity in income distributions on bilateral trade flows. Disentangling supply-side and demand-side mechanisms, we document a robust new regularity: while differences in average incomes between two countries increase trade, differences in income dispersion reduce it. Our result sheds new light on the Linder hypothesis and strengthens the role of non-homothetic preferences in trade theory.