Buyer-seller relationships in international trade: Evidence from U.S. States' exports and business-class travel

► Examine the importance of buyer­seller interactions for international trade. ► Model an exporter's decision to undertake business meetings based on the complexity of the good traded, the market potential of the importing country, and the cost of international travel. ► Measure buyer­seller interactions using U.S. state level data on business­class air travel, and exploit cross­state variation to identify the results. ► Find robust evidence that the demand for business meetings is directly related to the volume and composition of exports in terms of differentiated goods. ► Across sectors, R&D intensive manufactures and goods facing contractual frictions are most dependent on buyer­seller interactions.