Does Immigration Help to Explain Intra-Industry Trade? Evidence for Spain

This paper argues and provides evidence that the stock of immigrants in a country has a positive effect on the share of its bilateral intra-industry trade (IIT). The paper links the literatures about immigration and trade and about IIT determinants. The key is that immigration contributes to trade transaction costs reduction and this would benefit the trade in differentiated products, i.e. IIT, more than the trade in homogeneous products, i.e. inter-industry trade. We test this hypothesis using Spanish data and departing from the models developed by Helpman. Results are robust to different IIT measures, estimation methods and specifications. JEL no. F10, F22, F14     

The Skill Content of Inter- and Intra-Industry Trade: Evidence for the United Kingdom

In this paper we investigate the relative importance of net exchanges of skills embodied in intra-industry and inter-industry trade for the UK’s trade with some middle income countries. We also separately measure the net exchanges of skills embodied in vertical and horizontal intra-industry trade (IIT). We find that there are substantial factor exchanges involved in IIT, implying that traditional factor content studies may have seriously underestimated the actual factor content of total trade flows. This means that the adjustment effects of IIT may be greater than is often presumed. We also find, in line with theory, that vertical IIT involves similar net exchanges of labour of different skills to that of inter-industry trade, while horizontal IIT involves much smaller net exchanges of skills. JEL no. F11, F14     

On the Measurement of Product Quality in Intra-Industry Trade

The world has witnessed a dramatic increase in trade over the last forty years. Much of this growth in trade is intra-industry in nature. A relatively recent development in the intra-industry trade (IIT) literature is the measurement of the simultaneous import and export of quality-differentiated products, commonly known as vertical and horizontal IIT. In this paper we compare the Greenaway, Hine and Milner (1994) and Fontagné and Freudenberg (1997) approaches to disentangling vertical and horizontal intra-industry trade and examine some of the implications of employing simple ratios to define the boundary between product quality types. We present a complementary approach based on the traditional Grubel and Lloyd (GL) index and demonstrate with numerical examples its versatility and applicability at the product level. JEL no. F19     

Revealed Comparative Advantage, Intraindustry Trade and the US Manufacturing Trade Deficit with China

This paper uses 4‐digit SITC data to identify groups of manufactured goods exported from China to the USA that have strong or rising comparative advantages. We find that most of the trades are inter‐industry, with only a small portion being vertical intra‐industry trades (IIT). Our results confirm that Sino‐US trade is complementary. We construct an imbalanced index of IIT, and identify the goods groups that aggravate and reduce the US trade deficit with China. We suggest an approach for calculating a dynamic IIT index that might mitigate the aggregation bias of the existing methodologies. Our improved index reveals that the dynamic imbalances of US‐Chinese IIT in manufactured goods are worse than their static IIT imbalances, which means that it would be difficult to correct the deficit of US trade with China in the following couple of years. Adjusting and improving the structures of industries and products is China's major task for sustainable trade growth.     

中美高新技术产品贸易研究

文章利用美国普查局贸易统计数据,计算了中美高新技术产品贸易的贸易特化指数,然后对产生的原因进行了分析。结果表明:中美高新技术产品贸易总体属于产业间贸易。文章最后提出了在中美间培育垂直专业化分工、增加从美国的中间产品进口规模和敦促美国放宽对华技术出口限制等建议。     

中国与东盟产业内贸易分析

近年来,随着中国与东盟各国经济的发展,要素禀赋的差异性正在弱化,规模经济日趋重要,大多数产品为满足国家之间不同购买需求日趋差异化,技术变化也不断向各行业渗透。双方在产业转移、产业结构调整中,逐步从传统产业间贸易走向产业内贸易。本文借助现有统计数据,揭示中国与东盟国家逐步从产业间贸易走向产业内贸易的发展趋势,探讨形成产业内贸易的动因,以及进一步发展产业内贸易的有利弊因素,最后提出相关的建议。     

Chinese Bilateral Intra-Industry Trade: A Panel Data Study for 50 Countries in the 1992–2001 Period

This study examines the features and determinants of Chinese intra-industry trade during the 1992–2001 transition period for 50 of China’s trade partners. We disentangle total intra-industry trade (TIIT) into vertical intra-industry trade (VIIT) vis-à-vis horizontal intra-industry trade (HIIT), using data at the four-digit SITC level. The findings indicate that Chinese bilateral intra-industry trade, particularly VIIT, increased significantly during this transition period. VIIT appears to be positively related to differences in consumer patterns. HIIT is negatively related to these differences. In addition, we find that FDI has played an important role in determining IIT, especially VIIT. Other significant intra-industry trade drivers are geographical distance, economic size, trade openness and trade composition. Finally, the impact of China’s liberalization policies and the special role of Hong Kong are demonstrated. We discuss a number of important business and political implications that can be drawn from our findings. JEL no. F14     

全球价值链分工下的双边贸易收益核算：以中美贸易为例

通过构建双边贸易收益核算模型,从总体规模、行业结构、实现方式等层面对中美双边贸易收益进行核算。本文发现中美双边出口中均包含着大量的对方国内增加值,与增加值贸易差额比较,传统统计口径的中美贸易差额出现明显高估。其中中国对美货物出口的贸易顺差被显著高估,而服务出口的贸易顺差被明显低估。在中美双边贸易中,中国对美出口包含的本国国内增加值比重不到七成,而美国对华出口包含的本国国内增加值比重超过八成。中国出口到美国的产品绝大部分表现为最终产品并且被美国当地消费,而美国出口到中国很大部分表现为中间品,并且通过对增值折返及对第三国出口的形式实现。     

The Dynamics of Intra-industry Trade in ASEAN*

The decision to establish the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) by the year 2008 has resulted in producers in all ASEAN countries except Singapore raising concerns relating to potential loss of market share and adjustment pressures. Underlying these concerns is the view that the expected growth in intra-ASEAN trade will be dominated by inter-industry or net trade (NT) rather than intra-industry trade (IIT). If most of the expected growth in trade is intra-industry, however, then the short-run resource re-allocation costs are likely to be lower. In this study, we employ a new methodology to analyse the dynamics of IIT in ASEAN. We overcome problems associated with using movements in the value of the Grubel-Lloyd (GL) index by deriving a formula that decomposes the growth in trade into the contributions of growth in IIT and NT. Our results suggest that the role of IIT in trade growth has been increasing in importance, and thus much of the recent concern that threatens the viability of AFTA may be misplaced.     

Intra-Industry Trade Revisited: A Note

This short note revisits the relative importance of intra- and inter-industry trade by using the Grubel-Lloyd formula as a measure of intra-industry trade to the country??s manufacturing trade (sections 5?C8 of the SITC) where each industry is the four digit classification. Measures for a country??s total trade, as well as its bilateral trade with specific countries are utilized. The results demonstrate that intra-industry trade dominates trade among the OECD countries, while inter-industry trade dominates North-South and South-South trade.     

The impact of intraindustry trade on the natural rate of unemployment in two simple models

This paper builds in two popular versions of the theory of equilibrium unemployment into a world economy engaged purely in intraindustry trade of differentiated products. We show that free trade through increasing the range of varieties available for consumption and expanding economies of scale leads to a lowering of the equilibrium rates of unemployment in all participating countries. Thus, we demonstrate channels through which international trade alleviates the problem of high unemployment in each country engaged in pure intraindustry trade.     

中、美服务贸易结构现状及演变比较分析

随着科学知识和技术水平的发展,新一轮产业结构调整浪潮在世界范围内展开,各主要经济大国开始着重发展服务业,由此引起世界服务贸易结构的改变,以运输、旅游传统服务部门日益向知识技术密集型服务转变,而我国这些年仍以运输、旅游等传统的服务贸易为主,结构落后。美国是世界上服务贸易最发达的国家,引入美国与我国进行对比研究,为我国向发达服务经济国家迈进提供参考目标。     

Intra-industry trade by types: What can we learn from Portuguese data?

We provide evidence on intra-industry trade (IIT) in the Portuguese case from 1994 onwards by disentangling vertical from horizontal IIT with two different indexes—the Grubel-Lloyd and the so-called CEPII index- and analyse the determinants of both IIT types. Distinct explanatory factors are identified for each IIT type and we confirm the comparative advantage explanation in the vertical case. The regression results are robust to different estimation methods and to alternative IIT indexes. Nonetheless, sensitivity of the IIT levels to the arbitrary criterion of the CEPII measurement points out to the Grubel-Lloyd index as a preferable method. JEL no. F12, F14     

On the Measurement of Changes in Product Quality in Marginal Intra-Industry Trade

There is a long established thread of the international trade literature concerned with the measurement of intra-industry trade (IIT). Two distinct strands of the literature have developed: First, measures of marginal IIT that are concerned with the adjustment implications of volume-based changes in IIT; second, measures of vertical and horizontal IIT that are concerned with quality-based differences in IIT. This paper marries the two literatures to provide a new perspective on the smooth adjustment hypothesis debate and suggests the use of the marginal product quality index, a new measure of changes in quality in matched trade changes that complements dynamic measures of volume-based IIT. JEL no.  F19     

Exploring the Intensive and Extensive Margins of World Trade

World trade evolves at two margins. Where a bilateral trading relationship already exists it may increase through time (intensive margin). But trade may also increase if a trading bilateral relationship is newly established between countries that have not traded with each other in the past (extensive margin). We provide an empirical dissection of post–World War II growth in manufacturing world trade along these two margins. We propose a “corner-solutions version” of the gravity model to explain movements on both margins. A Tobit estimation of this model resolves the so-called “distance puzzle”. It also finds more convincing evidence than recent literature that WTO-membership enhances trade. JEL no. F12, F15     

On the measurement of product quality in intra-industry trade: An empirical test for China

A relatively recent development in the intra-industry trade (IIT) literature is the measurement of the simultaneous import and export of quality-differentiated products, commonly known as vertical and horizontal IIT. A recent paper from Azhar and Elliott [Azhar, A. K. M. & Elliott, R. J. R. (2006), On the Measurement of Product Quality in Intra-Industry Trade, Review of World Economics, Vol 142 no 3, pp 476–495] analyses various approaches for disentangling vertical and horizontal IIT and suggests a complementary methodology. To investigate the robustness and sensitivity of the existing approaches we examine data on the nature of trade flows between China and its East Asian neighbours and show that in 2002 China tended to export low quality versions of its manufactured goods to Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.     

Integration and intra-industry trade adjustment in South Africa

This article analyses intra-industry trade adjustment by the Southern African Customs Union after 1994, and links between trade liberalisation and employment are examined. The traditional Grubel-Lloyd index is complemented by marginal inter- and intra-industry trade measures, and trade expansion of sectors is scaled, related to change in total exports and imports. In three different empirical approaches, large differences are found: in the level of intra-industry trade (IIT) between different sectors (categorised into resource-based, labour-intensive, scale-intensive and differentiated industries); in the level of IIT of individual sectors in trade with the SADC6, the European Union and the rest of the world; and in the economic significance of trade expansion for different industries and with different trading partners. Trade expansion is dominated by differentiated and scale-intensive industries, indicating that the main economic gain of international integration is found in the opportunity to exploit economies of scale in a larger market. IIT and marginal IIT are positively related to increases in labour productivity, and negatively related to employment change. Interindustry trade and both export and import expansions are positively related to employment gain, but only export is positively related to increased labour productivity.     

The role of comparative advantage in trade within industries: A panel data approach for the European Union

The Role of Comparative Advantage in Trade within Industries: A Panel Data Approach for the European Union. — A large share of EU member states trade is intra-industry trade (IIT) in the period 1985-1996; in particular, IIT is based on products differentiated in quality (vertical IIT). Moreover, exports from southern countries are located mainly at the lower end of the price-quality spectrum, whereas those countries with higher per capita incomes are located at the higher end. According to the vertical IIT models, we hypothesize that commercial specialization of members states over the quality spectrum within industries is explained by differences in technological, physical and human capital. The results show that comparative advantage is an important driver of the pattern of European trade within industries.     

基于贸易引力模型的上海合作组织成员国贸易流量影响因素比较研究

就研究对象而言,国内学者使用贸易引力模型对贸易流量进行研究主要集中在两个方面：一是中国和其他国家（地区）的双边贸易流量;二是中国和世界主要经济体或自由贸易区的贸易流量。而针对中国倡导并参加的上海合作组织内各成员国的贸易流量影响因素,并就对贸易流量的影响因素进行分析的研究并不多。文章即利用贸易引力模型进行实证检验,比较上海合作组织内各成员国的主要影响因素变量的回归系数并分析其原因,最后得出相关结论。     

The J-Curve and Japan–China commodity trade

Previous studies that have tested the J-Curve phenomenon for Japan or China employed either aggregate trade data between each country and the rest of the world, or aggregate bilateral data between two trade partners. These studies have found no support for the J-Curve. Suspecting that their models could suffer from aggregation bias, in this paper, we disaggregate bilateral trade flows between the two countries and examine trade by 73 industries. We find evidence of the J-Curve phenomenon in 24 industries, a unique finding for trade between Japan and China.