Data Sheet 1_Institutional capacity, FTA network breadth, and trade efficiency in China’s aquatic-product imports: evidence from a true random-effects stochastic frontier gravity model.pdf

Using a balanced panel of 16 major suppliers over 2013–2022, this study estimates a true random-effects stochastic frontier gravity model that separates persistent supplier heterogeneity from time-varying trade inefficiency.

The results identify two distinct margins. China’s fishery-sector scale and supplier total aquatic-animal production expand the conditional import frontier, while stronger China-side logistics-service competence and broader supplier external FTA networks are associated with lower trade inefficiency and stronger frontier realization. The FTA-network relationship remains particularly consistent across alternative time controls, LPI annualization, supplier economic and governance controls, and broader PPML samples.