01794cas a2200241 a 4500 AALejournalIMF010948 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 15.00 USD 9781589068209 1020-7635 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. IMF Staff Papers, Volume 56, No. 3. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2009. 1 online resource (247 pages) IMF Staff Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Studies of the impact of trade openness on growth are based either on crosscountry analysis-which lacks transparency-or case studies-which lack statistical rigor. This paper applies a transparent econometric method drawn from the treatment evaluation literature (matching estimators) to make the comparison between treated (that is, open) and control (that is, closed) countries explicit while remaining within a statistical framework. Matching estimators highlight that common cross-country evidence is based on rather far-fetched country comparisons, which stem from the lack of common support of treated and control countries in the covariate space. The paper therefore advocates paying more attention to appropriate sample restriction in crosscountry macro research. Mode of access: Internet IMF Staff Papers; IMF Staff Papers ; No. 2009/003 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/024/2009/003/024.2009.issue-003-en.xml IMF e-Library