Cross-border production sharing and exchange-rate sensitivity of Mexico's trade balance

Increasing patterns of international trade occur in the form of cross-border production sharing – the dispersion of separate blocks of an integrated production process across different nations. In the case of ‘standard’ or ‘ordinary’ trade, imports are destined for use in the importing country, and exports are largely produced within the country. However, with production sharing, imported parts and components are destined for inclusion in the country's exports. A depreciation of a nation's currency raises its exports. At the same time, imported components become more expensive, which partly offsets the expansionary effect of the depreciation on exports. Using a simple theoretical framework, this paper shows that production networks lower the sensitivity of a country's trade balance to changes in exchange rates. The empirical examination finds Mexico's Maquiladora trade balance to be unresponsive to changes in both, its real effective as well as its real peso-dollar rates, while that for non-Maquiladora category is significantly responsive, in confirmation with the theorized hypothesis.     

Reform and opening up in the new era: China trade policy review

This paper reviews the major changes in China's trade policies in the last few years. During this period, the adjustment of trade policies has developed in the following ways: first, the establishment of free trade zones, which emphasises the importance of advanced systems rather than preferential policies; second, putting forward the “Belt & Road” Initiative, which indicates China's new stage of development from “bringing in” to “going out”; third, holding import expos, which marks an era when China's foreign trade development has shifted from focusing on exports only to focusing on both exports and imports; fourth, reducing entry barriers of foreign capital, which demonstrates that the policy framework for FDI has gradually changed from a positive list to a negative list; fifth, promoting trade negotiations, which reflects that China has actively participated in bilateral, regional and multilateral trade talks; and finally, building up new experimental fields of reform and opening up, which shows evidence that a new generation of special economic zones is emerging.     

Trade Patterns in the Automobile Industry: Some Evidence from South Africa

In this article the authors analyze trade patterns in the South African automobile industry using disaggregated harmonized system product-level data. The significance of intraindustry trade is estimated and separated into patterns of horizontally differentiated (by variety) intraindustry trade and vertically differentiated (by quality) intraindustry trade. The results indicate the presence of significant levels of intraindustry trade in automotive trade flows between South Africa and bilateral trading partners. In accordance with theoretical expectations, the empirical investigation reveals that intraindustry trade in South Africa's automobile industry is dominated by vertical intraindustry trade. Moreover, in recent years the analysis reveals some evidence that, within vertical intraindustry trade, South Africa's automobile industry produces and exports high-quality automotive products aligned with international fragmentation-based production and trade.     

China's one belt one road initiative: The impact of trade facilitation versus physical infrastructure on exports

The One Belt One Road (OBOR) project is perhaps China's most significant international relations initiative in recent times. It is based on openness, harmony, inclusivity, mutual benefit and market operations and aims to connect the economically vibrant East Asia and the developed Europe by land and by sea, and in the process, it brings growth and development to tens of countries along the modern Silk routes. In this paper, we compare the impact of the main initiatives of OBOR, namely enhancements in physical infrastructure and improvements in border administration, on the trade of countries that have signed on to this project, especially countries along the six economic corridors. We find overwhelming evidence that shows improvements in border administration has the greatest impact on exports of corridor countries. Although physical infrastructure is important for trade, the Chinese government should place equal attention to improvements in trade facilitation to ensure trade routes operate seamlessly across the various corridors.     

中国对外贸易隐含碳的测度研究——基于碳排放责任界定的视角

贸易自由化对气候变化的影响已引起国内外学术界的普遍关注。本文采用投入产出法,考虑进口中间投入产品的影响后,建立经济模型,分析我国进出口贸易中的隐含碳,其中特别注重对再出口贸易和部门分解的分析。结果表明:2007年,我国生产隐含碳比消费隐含碳高4.53%,净出口隐含碳达2.98亿吨。我国的CO2排放贸易条件是0.93,这说明我国单位出口的碳排放强度小于单位进口的碳排放强度,国际贸易总体上来说有利于中国的节能减排。"通信设备、计算机及其他电子设备制造业"是出口隐含碳最多的部门,进口隐含碳最多的部门是"化学工业"。隐含碳贸易顺差最大的部门是"纺织业",逆差最大的部门是"石油和天然气开采业"。"化学工业"、"金属冶炼及压延加工业"和"通信设备、计算机及其他电子设备制造业"是再出口隐含碳最多的三个部门,说明这些部门有很大一部分产品属于加工贸易,两头在外的贸易模式对我国进出口隐含碳有较大的影响。最后,根据结论提出了政策建议。     

The trade facilitation impact of the Chinese diaspora

Using an enhanced data set on the population share of overseas Chinese in 1970 and 1990, this paper analyses the impact of the Chinese diaspora on facilitating China's bilateral trade during the period 1973–2013. Our findings suggest substantial trade creation effects resulting from the presence of ethnic Chinese in the trade partner population. Diaspora impacts on Chinese bilateral imports are in general higher than those found for exports. Coethnic networks play a larger role as long as the partner country does not have an RTA with China in place. Among export sectors, effects found were strongest for food, as well as for machinery and transport equipment. In regard to imports, coethnic networks matter mostly for raw materials, machinery and transport equipment, and chemicals.     

Is environmental labeling certification a “green passport” for firm exports in emerging economies? Evidence from China

As the demand for more environmentally friendly products continues to increase, environmental label certification (ELC), as a voluntary environmental practice (VEP), has become a commonly used strategy by firms responding the green demands of the international market. While ELC is playing an increasingly important role in global trade, how ELC affects firms’ exports, especially how it affects the exports of those firms in emerging economies, remains unknown. This study explores the impact of ELC on firms’ exports. Insights are provided from resource-based views (RBV) by analysing China's A-share listed manufacturing firms to estimate the impact of China's ELC on exports. Our empirical results show that ELC can promote firms’ exports, because ELC emphasizes firms to reduce pollutant from the source, thereby, brings about cost advantage and green product differentiated advantage to boost high-quality exports. Using a series of robustness tests, we provide corroborating evidence for our hypotheses. The export-enhancing effect of ELC is impacted by the institutional context of emerging economies, as specialized market intermediaries and greater openness to the global market strengthen the export-enhancing effect of ELC. This research not only contributes to the literature, but also provides a reference for policy-makers and managers in using ELC to develop green trade.     

Firm-level export duration: The importance of market-specific ownership linkages

This paper explores the impact of a firm's market-specific ownership linkages and trade complementarities on different dimensions of its exporting longevity. Unlike previous studies that were mostly based on country-product-level data, this paper uses transaction-level trade data on the population of firms in Slovenia in the 2002–11 period, matched with detailed origin/direction of inward/outward FDI information to determine a firm's integration in international production networks. Our results indicate that firm's bilateral inward and outward FDI flows with an export-destination country have a strong positive effect on a firm's export survival in that market. Importance of market-specific ownership linkages for export duration is exclusively driven by intermediate goods which suggests prolonged export duration through production network involvement. However, the perseverance effect of bilateral FDI ties on export spells has been weakened during the crisis period. We find pronounced market- and product-related trade complementarities as either exporting or importing experience with the relevant market/product substantially improves the chances of a product–market export spell continuing. Finally, the risk of exports termination is lower for a firm's core export products.     

U.S.-China trade war and competitive advantage of Vietnam

China has been losing international competitiveness in labor-intensive industries due to various factors, including the trade war with the United States and globalization. Vietnam, however, has rapidly expanded its labor-intensive exports. The paper proposes to explore the future of labor-intensive industries in Vietnam due to the U.S.-China trade war. The paper examines export performance data from United Nation Comtrade for 10 specific labor-intensive industries that serve the U.S. market between 2000 and 2020 to assess the possibility of Vietnam overtaking China's position as the world's largest manufacturer. Using situation analysis, the paper compares the competitive advantage of Vietnam in labor-intensive industries due to the U.S.-China trade war. The paper found that China's competitiveness was negatively impacted for the final two periods, while Vietnam's competitive advantage increased.     

The factor content of Chinese trade

This article demonstrates that the growth of China's exports in recent years is consistent with the Heckscher–Ohlin–Vanek (HOV) prediction of the factor content of trade based on international differences in factor endowments, after adjusting for substantial differences in factor-specific productivity. A comparison of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development input–output data in the year 2000 shows that China's labor productivity relative to the United States is the lowest in a sample of 33 diverse countries, although China's capital is more productive than US capital. This in turn demonstrates the importance of a factor-specific rather than factor-neutral productivity adjustment common in much of the HOV literature. The use of value-added data to measure factor usage helps to correct for unobserved differences in factor qualities and differences in productivity across sectors, as is demonstrated for China. China's low average labor productivity reflects the structure of the Chinese economy where most employment is still in the inefficient agriculture and service sectors, with only 11% of employment in the more modern export-oriented manufacturing sector. Due to a trade surplus, China exports both labor and capital but Leamer's (The Journal of Political Economy 1980;88: 495–503) test for trade-revealed factor abundance confirms that China is labor abundant even after substantial factor-specific productivity adjustments.     

Determinants of Foreign Trade in China's Textile Industry

The article sets out to examine whether the volume of bilateral trade between China and 40 of its trading partners in the up-, mid-, and downstream segments of the textile industry is affected by factors such as GDP, per capita GDP, geographic distance, FDI outflows and inflows, openness to trade, and bilateral investment treaties. The significant negative correlation between import/export volume and distance reflects the close trading relations between China and the other countries of East Asia. A home market effect is evident for downstream exports. China's FDI outflows stimulate growth in midstream textile product exports.     

我国超额外汇储备规模的成因——基于FDI和加工贸易视角的解释

本文从国际收支平衡表结构入手分析超额外汇储备的来源,认为中国超额外汇储备规模与FDI和加工贸易净出口有正相关关系。以2001年1月至2008年12月的月度数据为样本,对FDI、货物贸易净出口、一般贸易净出口、加工贸易净出口和外汇储备增加值等变量之间的关系进行了Granger因果检验和VECM检验,结果显示FDI对来料加工净出口和进料加工净出口、来料加工净出口和进料加工净出口对外汇储备增加值均有显著的正向效应,FDI、来料加工净出口或进料加工净出口、外汇储备增加值之间存在长期均衡的协整关系。     

Impact of political dispute on international trade based on an international trade Inoperability Input-Output Model: A case study of the 2012 Diaoyu Islands Dispute

While political disputes occur frequently and widely among many countries, their impact on the international trade is unclear and less systematically investigated. Considering the 2012 Diaoyu Islands Dispute, under several premised assumptions, this paper applies the international trade Inoperability Input-Output Model to determine the indirect economic loss and to screen out Chinese industries that are sensitive to the dispute. Results based on Leontief's technical coefficients matrix show that the total indirect economic loss of China's gross trade is between RMB 540.4226 billion and RMB 1023.3068 billion. Industries that are sensitive to the dispute include electrical equipment and machinery, general special equipment manufacturing, metal smelting and rolling processing, manufacture and processing of metals and metal products, and chemical. The empirical findings suggest that China establish an early-warning mechanism and trade assistance system, so that key industries that were damaged could be properly compensated.     

Exchange rate jumps and exports: Evidence from China

We apply the autoregressive conditional jump intensity (ARJI ) model to monthly exchange rate returns of China against 81 countries and investigate the impact of exchange rate volatility on exports over the period of 1995–2004. We decompose bilateral exchange rate volatility into continuous and discrete components and find that only the discrete part of exchange rate volatility, that is, the exchange rate jumps, has a significantly negative effect on exports, which to some extent reconciles the old yet unsettled debate in previous literature on the role of exchange rate volatility in international trade. There is also some evidence suggesting that the development of domestic financial market will boost international trade, but it does not help attenuate the negative effect of bilateral exchange rate jump risk on exports.     

Fending off waste from the west: The impact of China's Operation Green Fence on the international waste trade

China launched the first Operation Green Fence (OGF) on 1 February 2013 to fend off inflows of illegal waste. The main objective of OGF was to enforce waste trade policies already adopted by China and thereby restrict illegal waste imports. We use a gravity model of international trade with annual bilateral waste trade data at the 6-digit HS code level to assess the impact of OGF on the international waste trade. First, we study the direct impact of OGF and find that the intervention resulted in a 26% drop in low-quality waste exports to China from developed countries. Second, we assess the impact of OGF on exports from developed countries to developing countries, excluding China. We do not find a statistically significant effect of OGF on low-quality waste exports from developed countries to developing countries (excluding China). We also test the waste haven hypothesis and do not find evidence that waste exports were disproportionately diverted to countries with lax environmental regulation.     

技术性贸易壁垒对中国电子行业出口的影响研究——基于中美贸易引力模型的实证分析

技术性贸易壁垒与出口之间的关系一直都是学术界关注的重点,但目前学术界对二者之间的具体影响机制尚未形成统一认知。利用2001年~2016年中国电子行业对美国出口额的时间序列数据,通过理论推导与拓展贸易引力模型,研究了美国技术性贸易壁垒对中国电子行业出口的影响。结果表明:实行传统关税壁垒,美国会比中国损失更多的出口利益,从而使得美国放弃关税壁垒而选择技术性贸易壁垒;技术性贸易壁垒对出口呈现正"U"型影响。研究结果还显示:美国技术性贸易壁垒对中国电子行业出口呈倒"U"型影响,这是因为美国技术性贸易壁垒强度会因中国技术创新数量与出口的增加而产生"壁垒强度突变";同时,美国技术性贸易壁垒对中国技术创新数量呈正"U"型影响。根据研究结论,提出了相关政策建议。     

碳关税征收对双边贸易的预期影响——基于中美两个碳经济大国的微观分析方法

文章用微观经济分析方法,基于中美两个碳经济大国的视角分析了碳关税的征收对双边贸易的预期影响。分析结果为:美国征收碳关税,短期内会由于美国进口需求减少和其他不被施加碳关税国家的价格优势导致中国出口量下降;长期中出口商需要提高价格来补偿技术投入的支出,国际价格上涨将进一步导致需求降低,贸易量减少;同时碳关税征收将导致出口国贸易条件恶化,社会福利损失;而进口国可能由于贸易条件的改善在短期内获得收益。     

Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama effect on international trade

Is political compliance a precondition for healthy trade relations with China? The Chinese government frequently threatens that meetings between its trading partners' officials and the Dalai Lama will be met with animosity and ultimately harm trade ties. We run a gravity model of exports to China from 159 partner countries between 1991 and 2008 to test the extent to which bilateral tensions affect trade with autocratic China. In particular, we empirically investigate whether countries that receive the Dalai Lama despite China's opposition experience a significant reduction in their exports to China. In order to account for the potential endogeneity of meetings with the Dalai Lama, the number of Tibet Support Groups and the travel pattern of the Tibetan leader are used as instruments. Our empirical results support the idea that countries officially receiving the Dalai Lama at the highest political level are punished through a reduction of their exports to China. However, this ‘Dalai Lama Effect’ is only observed for the Hu Jintao era and not for earlier periods. Furthermore, we find that this effect is mainly driven by reduced exports of machinery and transport equipment and that it disappears in the second year after a meeting took place.     

An explicit partial‐equilibrium model to justify the Generalized Marshall‐Lerner condition (GML)

Robinson's derivation of the Marshall‐Lerner condition (ML) is more general in that she considers a situation where initially the trade balance is not in equilibrium with the incorporation of the supply curves of exporters. This paper examines a partial equilibrium analysis of a country's imports and exports markets within a theoretical model which considers both the demand and supply sides in these two internationally traded‐goods markets. The aim here is to show explicitly how the Generalized Marshall‐Lerner condition (GML) of Robinson can be obtained. We examined the two effects of the nominal depreciation of the domestic currency on the trade balance: the volume effect and the value effect and how they counterbalance each other. We found that the standard Marshall‐Lerner condition (ML) was not sufficient when the trade balance was initially in deficit and it was also not necessary if the trade balance showed an initial surplus. Moreover, this study provides a new interpretation for Robinson’ sufficiency condition where the trade balance must improve following a nominal depreciation of domestic currency when the elasticity of foreign demand exceeds the ratio of imports to exports. This paper also examines the situation of a small open economy which could not influence the world prices where the foreign demand for exports and the foreign supply of exports are infinitely large. Finally, there is a discussion on two policy implications for exchange rate regulation: the amount of devaluation that is necessary to improve a given trade imbalance as a governments intervention and additional support for the slow improvement of the trade balance in the short run after a devaluation policy known as the J‐Curve effect.