Recent evidence on determinants of intra-industry trade

Recent Evidence on Determinants of Intra-Industry Trade. — This paper provides recent evidence on determinants of intra-industry trade for the United States. Results do not support the role of scale economies in explaining intra-industry trade. Product differentiation and degree of standardization, categorical aggregation, non-tariff barriers, and international transportation costs are important determinants of intra-industry trade. The overall explanatory power of the estimated model is shown to increase over time, stressing the importance of using recent trade flow data to test propositions concerning determinants of intra-industry trade.     

Vertical intra-industry trade and foreign direct investment in East Asia

As economic integration in East Asia progresses, trade patterns within the region are displaying an ever-greater complexity: Though inter-industry trade still accounts for the majority, its share in overall trade is declining. Instead, intra-industry trade (IIT), which can be further divided into horizontal IIT (HIIT) and vertical IIT (VIIT), is growing in importance.In this paper, we set out to measure and examine vertical intra-industry trade patterns in the East Asian region and compare these with the results of previous studies focusing on the EU, to which such analyses so far have been confined. Based on the supposition that VIIT is closely related to offshore production by multinational enterprises, we then develop a model to capture the main determinants of VIIT that explicitly includes the role of FDI. The model is tested empirically using data from the electrical machinery industry. The findings support our hypothesis, showing that FDI plays a significant role in the rapid increase in VIIT in East Asia seen in recent years. J. Japanese Int. Economies 17 (4) (2003) 468–506.     

North American trade liberalization and intra-industry trade

Zusammenfassung Handelsliberalisierung in Nordamerika und der intra-industrielle Handel. - Der Verfasser untersucht die Handelsbeziehungen zwischen Mexiko und den Vereinigten Staaten in den 80er Jahren und vergleicht sie mit den Handelsbeziehungen zwischen Kanada und den USA im gleichen Zeitraum. Er stellt fest, da? der intra-industrielle Handel in den Beziehungen zwischen Mexiko und den USA an Bedeutung gewonnen hat, was vermutlich auf die zunehmende Handelsliberalisierung Mexikos zurückzuführen ist. In der Tat waren in den sp?ten 80er Jahren die relativen Niveaus des intra-industriellen Handels ?hnlich hoch, wenn man die bilateralen Handelsstr?me zwischen Mexiko und den USA mit denen zwischen Kanada und den USA vergleicht.

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Résumé La libération des échanges nord-américains et les échanges intra-industriels.- Dans cette étude l'auteur examine les tendances du commerce bilatéral entre le Mexique et les Etats Unis pendant les années quatre-vingts. Il les compare aux tendances du commerce bilatéral entre le Canada et les Etats Unis pendant la même période. Il trouve que les échanges intra-industriels sont particulièrement augmenté en ce qui concerne le commerce entre le Mexique et les Etats Unis. Cela montre que la libéralisation commerciale prend place principalement de la part du Mexique. En effet dans les années quatre-vingts, les niveaux relatives des échanges intra-industriels ont été assez similaires si l’on compare les échanges bilatéraux entre le Mexique et les Etats Unis d’une part et le Canada et les Etats Unis d'autre part.

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Resumen La liberalizatión del comercio en América del Norte y el comercio intrasectorial. - En este trabajo se examina el perfil del comercio bilateral entre México y los EE UU en los a?os ochenta y se lo compara con el perfil del comercio bilateral entre el Canadá y los EE UU en el mismo período. Se encuentra que la importancia del comercio intrasectorial aumentó en el comercio entre México y los EE UU durante el periodo estudiado, reflejando ante todo avances en la liberalizatión del comercio por parte de México. En efecto, hacia fines de los a?os ochenta, los niveles relativos de comercio intrasectorial eran bastante similares en ambos casos, México-EE UU y Canadá-EE UU.

     

The impact of intra-industry trade on business cycle synchronization in East Asia

This paper empirically analyzes distinctions between intra- and inter-industry trade indices. The research indicates that the co-movements of business cycles are influenced more through the intra-industry trade channel than by the total volume of trade itself. As trade integration among Asian countries increased, business cycle synchronization among these countries was expected to expand through trade transmission. Inter-industry trade resulting in higher specialization will induce less synchronized business cycles, while intra-industry trade could lead to increased business cycle synchronization. Moreover, I find that increased business cycle synchronization, as one of the optimum currency area criteria, is overemphasized.     

Entrepreneurship and intra-industry trade

Entrepreneurship and Intra-Industry Trade. — The paper introduces entrepreneurs into the theories of intra-industry trade and investigates the role of a country ’s “entrepreneurship” in international trade. It is shown that therelative entrepreneurship between countries determines the terms of trade but the welfare effects are not obvious. Among other things, it is found that (1) an increase in exports improves the terms of trade and (2) an increase in country size is not always beneficial.     

East-west intra-industry trade dynamics

Conclusions Trade liberalization, integration and catching-up with the developed countries are often associated with an increase in intra-industry trade. We showed in the literature survey that the reduction of trade barriers is associated with the growth of intra-industry trade. We currently observe that the trade of the selected EU countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands) with the CEECs (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia) follows this pattern as well. However, the increase of intra-industry trade is not uniform, but reflects different patterns of integration and progress of industrial restructuring.     

The determinants of intra-industry trade: The case of the automobile industry

Zusammenfassung Die Bestimmungsgründe für den intra-industriellen Handel. Der Fall der Automobilindustrie. - In ihrem Artikel versuchen die Verfasser, die Entstehung und die jüngste Entwicklung des intra-industriellen Handels (IIH) unter Verwendung strengerer Definitionen für den europ?ischen Automobilsektor aufzuzeigen. Zus?tzlich zu früheren Erkl?rungen des IIH aus dem Blickwinkel der komparativen Vorteile oder der intra-industriellen Spezialisierung liefert der Aufsatz erstmalig einen deutlichen empirischen Befund für die m?gliche Beziehung zwischen firmeninternem und intra-industriellem Handel. Au?erdem halten die Verfasser eine umfassende Theorie für notwendig, um den IIH in Abh?ngigkeit von verschiedenen bilateralen Zusammenh?ngen zu erkl?ren.

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Résumé Les déterminants du commerce intra-branche: le cas du secteur de l’automobile. - Dans cette étude, nous nous sommes attachés à montrer l’existence et l’évolution récente du commerce intra-branche dans le secteur de l’automobile. Expliquer cette évolution en terme de pertes d’avantages comparatifs ou de spécialisation intra-branche a constitué notre objectif. Dans un contexte de commerce bilatéral, nous avons pu constater de multiples facteurs explicatifs, en particulier, nous avons mis en évidence, pour la première fois sur le plan empirique, la possibilité que des flux d’échanges intra-firme génèrent des échanges intra-branche. Cette étude atteste, également, la nécessité d’une théorie composite du commerce intra-branche.

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Resumen Las déterminantes del comercio intraindustrial: el caso de la industria automotriz. - En este trabajo se intenta mostrar el surgimiento y la evolución reciente del comercio intraindustrial (CII), particularmente de la industria automotriz en Europa. Además de dar las explicaciones tradicionales del CII desde el punto de vista de las ventajas comparativas o de la especialización intraindustrial, en este trabajo se présenta por primera vez una fuerte evidencia empirica en favor de la relación posible entre el comercio intraempresa y el CII. En este estudio también se postula la necesidad de una teoria amplia para explicar el CII en dependencia de varios contextes bilaterales.

     

Measuring marginal intra-industry trade

Measuring Marginal Intra-Industry Trade. — Trade liberalisation and adjustment: how important is intra-industry trade? This paper focuses on the appropriate measurement of intra-industry trade as indicator of structural adjustment costs. It is argued that existing dynamic versions of the Grubel-Lloyd index reflect horizontal trade only and classify vertical intra-industry trade with inter-industry trade. The paper proposes a method to distinguish between horizontal and vertical trade and applies these techniques to emerging trade between the EU and the economies of central and eastern Europe.     

Collusive intra-industry trade in identical commodities

Collusive Intra-Industry Trade in Identical Commodities. — A homogenous-goods Cournot model with two countries and two firms is analyzed. Firms may collude by monopolizing their domestic markets, but they may also engage in collusive intra-industry trade. It turns out that, though such trade is costly because of transportation costs, firms might indeed trade since this enlarges the scope of successful collusion. Hence, intra-industry trade in homogenous goods is not a reliable indicator of competition.     

International intra-industry trade of China

International Intra-Industry Trade of China. — The purpose of this paper is to measure the extent of the international intra-industry trade of China, and to test empirically various country-specific and industry-specific hypotheses concerning the determinants of vertical and horizonal intra-industry trade between China and her major trading partners. It is revealed that China has possessed the prerequisite of intra-industry trade and that China’s intra-industry trade follows similar patterns of those in developed countries as China is moving towards a market-oriented economy. F14, O53     

How important is intra-industry trade in trade growth?

Empirical work on intra-industry trade (IIT) is almost 30 years old. Initial research sought to identify if IIT was a significant share of total trade (TT). The Grubel-Lloyd (GL) index was widely used for this purpose. Interest has since shifted to the changing importance of IITover time. Using movements in the GL index to infer the importance of IIT over time is not only vague, but can be misleading. In this article, we measure the contributions of growth in net trade (NT) and IIT to the growth in TT. To understand changes in IIT over time, we also derive the contributions of imports and exports to the growth in TT, NT, and IIT. All our formulas are illustrated with data for 205 Australian manufacturing industries.     

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.     

中印制成品产业内贸易分析

本文通过对中印制成品产业内贸易的分析发现,首先,从静态的产业内贸易水平的考察来看,中印制成品主要是以产业间贸易的模式为主.其次,从动态产业内贸易水平的考察来看,中印的贸易增长主要是以产业问贸易为主要特征的.另外值得一提的是,对于边际产业内贸易指数不能纠正贸易不平衡性的问题也需要进一步的研究,以便找到更能真实反映边际产业内贸易的指标体系.     

中印制成品产业内贸易分析

本文通过对中印制成品产业内贸易的分析发现,首先,从静态的产业内贸易水平的考察来看,中印制成品主要是以产业间贸易的模式为主。其次,从动态产业内贸易水平的考察来看,中印的贸易增长主要是以产业间贸易为主要特征的。另外值得一提的是,对于边际产业内贸易指数不能纠正贸易不平衡性的问题也需要进一步的研究,以便找到更能真实反映边际产业内贸易的指标体系。     

Adjustment and the measurement of marginal intra-industry trade

Conclusions In this paper, we have set out to do two things: first to investigate the properties of the index of MIIT recently proposed by Hamilton and Kniest; second to evaluate how useful the index is as an input to relating IIT and adjustment. In investigating the former, we found that there were a number of problematic properties of the H-K index. Most notably it censors the data in a non-random way by excluding important information; it inflates the measured MIIT by using nominal rather than real data; and it is unsealed. These properties not only bias the measure upward, they make it inappropriate from the standpoint of evaluating adjustment problems. Our discussion concludes with several suggestions as to how we might identify and measure MIIT more effectively from the standpoint of evaluating the adjustment implications of trade expansion.     

Adjustment,employment characteristics and intra-industry trade

Adjustment, Employment Characteristics and Intra-Industry Trade. — In this paper we use data on individual workers to investigate a number of dimensions of adjustment and relate these to trade. Specifically, we estimate the relative incidence of changes in workers’ employment status with regard to sector, firm, occupation and region. We relate the incidence of adjustment to a range of labour market characteristics and indicators of trade exposure. Our findings are not consistent with the notion that there is a systematic relationship between the type of trade expansion (inter- or intra-industry) and the type of employment adjustment (within or between industry adjustment) or that there is less labour market adjustment associated with intra- than inter-industry trade.     

The estimation of intra-industry trade in South Africa

This article uses recently released data to analyse the nature of trade between South Africa and the world. Two variations of the Grubel-Lloyd index are calculated, and they reveal that South Africa has predictably low levels of intra-industry trade among the primary product chapters, as well as low overall levels of intra-industry trade. It is only in certain manufacturing chapters (eg clothing and textiles) that the level of intra-industry trade is generally higher. There is, however, a very definite upward trend in the overall level of intra-industry trade manifested at all levels.     

Recent trends in intra-industry trade and their implications for future trade liberalization

Zusammenfassung Jüngste Entwicklungen im intra-industriellen Handel und ihre Bedeutung für eine künftige Handelsliberalisierung. — In diesem Aufsatz wird untersucht, ob sich die Muster des intra-industriellen Handels (IIH) aus den sechziger und siebziger Jahren in den achtziger Jahren fortgesetzt haben. Es wird gefragt, ob der historische Nachkriegstrend in Richtung auf einen verst?rkten IIH umgekehrt wurde und — falls das der Fall war — weshalb. In der Analyse werden Daten aus 16 OECD-L?ndern für die Perioden 1970–1980 und 1975–1985 verwendet. Die Entwicklung des IIH scheint besonders für die Handelsabkommen relevant zu sein, bei denen die Partner erwarten, da\ die haupts?chlichen Handelsanpassungen innerhalb der Firmen und Industriezweige stattfinden und weniger zwischen den Industriezweigen. Zwei kürzlich abgeschlossene bilaterale Abkommen — zwischen Neuseeland und Australien und zwischen Kanada und den Vereinigten Staaten — beleuchten diese Fragestellung.

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Résumé Les tendances récentes du commerce intra-industriel et leurs effets sur la libéralisation du commerce extérieur en futur. — Cette étude examine si les caractéristiques du commerce intra-industriel dans les années soixante et soixante-dix sont les mêmes comme dans les années quatre-vingt. Il est demandé si la tendance historique après la dernière guerre mondiale vers un commerce intra-industriel plus fort s’est changée et, si oui, quelles sont les causes d’une telle évolution. L’analyse compend des données de 16 pays de l’OCDE pour les années 1970–1980 et 1975–1985. Les tendances du commerce intra-industriel semblent être particulièrement importantes pour les accords du commerce en futur si les partenaires attendent que les ajustements primaires ont lieu plus en firmes et en industries qu’entre des secteurs industriels. Deux accords bilatéraux donnent un exemple récent: c’est l’accord entre la Nouvelle Zélande et l’Australie et celui entre le Canada et les Etats Unis.

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Resumen Tendencias recientes en el comercio intrasectorial y sus implicaciones para una futura liberalización del comercio. — En este trabajo se investiga si el patrón de comercio intrasectorial (CIS) de la década del 60 y del 70 continué en los a?os 80. Se pregunta, si la tendencia histórica de la posguerra indicando un aumento del CIS se ha revertido, y, en caso de ser así, ?porqué? El análisis cubre datos para 16 países miembros de la OECD para dos periodos, 1970–1980 y 1975–1985. La tendencia del CIS parece ser particularmente relevante para futuros acuerdos comerciales en los cuales los participantes esperan que los ajustes primarios en el comercio tengan lugar dentro de las empresas y dentro de los sectores industriales, en vez de entre los sectores. Dos acuerdos bilaterales recientes, firmados entre Nueva Zelandia y Australia por un lado y entre Canadá y los EE.UU. por el otro, arrojan algo de luz sobre el tema.