The great realignment: How factor-biased innovation reshaped comparative advantage in the U.S. and Japan, 1970–1992

Recent changes in comparative advantage in the largest OECD economies contradict static Heckscher–Ohlin–Vanek theory. Japan's rising share of machinery exports and the improved comparative advantage of the USA in heavy industry were accompanied by growing scarcities of factors used intensively in these sectors. We show that under factor-price equalization, directed technical change leads to increasing specialization in goods intensive in each country's abundant factor. Testing this hypothesis with 1970–1992 export data from 14 OECD countries, we find that international comparative advantage was reshaped by biased innovation in the largest economies that increased the effective stocks of their abundant factors.     

Is Japan's trade (still) different?

Does Japanese trade in manufactured goods differ from the rest-of-the world average and from the US? We use a simple industry-level gravity model and 1981–1998 data to answer this question. We construct a measure of normalized imports by dividing bilateral industry-level imports by the importer's aggregate absorption and the exporter's industry output. We find that Japan imports less than other countries, but also exports less than other countries. Relative to the US, Japanese export performance is half as strong today as it was in the mid-1980s. Bilaterally, Japan is more open to imports from the US than the US is to imports from Japan. This means that the US runs a trade surplus with Japan in normalized imports of manufactured goods. J. Japanese Int. Economies 17 (4) (2003) 507–519.     

Exports of manufactures by developing countries: emerging patterns of trade and location

Developing countries are rapidly increasing their shares ofmanufactured trade, not just in labour-intensive products, butalso in capital- and skill-intensive ones; their shares arerising particularly rapidly in the high-technology area. However,manufactured exports remain highly concentrated in the developingworld, with a few countries dominating all forms of export.Within the successful exporting countries, there are significantdifferences in the 'technology content' of exports. These trendsare difficult to explain with received trade theory, even takinghuman capital into account, or with reference to broad economicpolicies: it is useful to bring in 'learning', along with scaleeconomies, increasing returns, and agglomeration as determinantsof comparative advantage. These factors imply market failures,and so a role for policy in developing genuine comparative advantages.This article suggests that emerging trade and location patternsin the developing work are explained by market imperfectionsand government policies to overcome them.     

The effect of exchange rate changes on Japanese consumption exports

This paper investigates how exchange rates affect Japanese exports. This is difficult because many of Japan's exports are used to produce goods for re-export. An appreciation in the importing country that decreases exports can decrease its imported inputs from Japan. To avoid this bias we examine consumption exports. Using a panel dataset of Japan's consumption exports to 17 countries over the 1988–2009 period, we find exchange rate elasticities of about one. These results indicate that the large swings in the value of the yen over the last decade have caused large swings in the volume of Japanese exports.     

RCA indices,multinational production and the Ricardian trade model

The practice of using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) Indices to determine the flow of goods trade among countries is well established. But an important issue that demands attention is whether the RCA indices reflect the essentials of comparative advantage theory. Deb and Basu Foreign Trade Rev 46(3):3–28, (2011) examined the consistency of alternative RCA indices with the Heckscher-Ohlin theory of comparative advantage, leaving scope for re-examination of the indices in the context of the Ricardian comparative advantage theory, which insists on relative factor productivity differences among countries contrary to Heckscher-Ohlin’s relative factor endowment differences. The other issue which has been overlooked in much of the existing literature is the importance of value-added trade. With the growing importance of global production chains, RCA indices based on gross export values may not portray an accurate picture of the underlying comparative advantage of countries. In this context, adjusting the RCA indices to incorporate domestic value-added in exports seems to be quite relevant. This paper explores the consistency of RCA indices based on domestic value-added in exports with the Ricardian theory of comparative advantage using a panel data approach. A brief review on the structures of alternative RCA indices is also provided. The Log-of-Balassa index is found to be the best performer in this empirical examination, although the deficiencies of the index for cross-country or cross-commodity comparison must be acknowledged. The index of Yu et al. Ann Reg Sci 43(1):267–282, (2009) does possess the latter feature but in our study its performance is quite poor and hence its consistency with the Ricardian theory of comparative advantage is questionable.     

增加值视角下金砖国家制造业的贸易利得与竞争力研究

基于贸易增加值核算的基本原理,对金砖五国制造业出口增加值进行分解,同时利用标准显示性竞争指数测算金砖国家制造业竞争力,研究发现：中国的贸易利得与庞大的出口总额严重不匹配,其他金砖四国的贸易利得远远高于中国;对中国、巴西和印度而言,基于国内增加值测算的NRCA值要高于基于出口总额测算的NRCA值,而俄罗斯和南非恰恰相反;金砖五国在低技术制造业上表现出各自的竞争优势,除了中国在电子通信和光学设备制造业及机械制造业有相对的竞争优势外,金砖五国整体上在高技术产业层面与美日德等发达国家存在较大差距。应从培育高级要素、产能合作、共建科技创新体系等方面来提高金砖国家制造业竞争力。     

The Gravity Equation in International Trade in Services

The main purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of various factors on bilateral services trade, relative to that on bilateral goods trade. To accomplish this purpose, using the standard gravity model, we ran regressions on bilateral services trade and goods trade between 10 OECD member countries and other economies (including OECD member and nonmember countries) for the years 1999 and 2000. One main and interesting result is that services trade is better predicted by gravity equations than goods trade. Another interesting result is that there is a complementary relationship between goods exports and services imports. JEL no. F10, F20, L51, F80     

Export variety and export performance: Empirical evidence for the OECD countries

Export Variety and Export Performance: Empirical Evidence for the OECD Countries. — Does product variety matter for export performance? This has been suggested by the new trade theory. In the present paper, we investigate empirically whether increasing export variety has contributed to the export growth of the OECD countries. We calculate direct measures of export variety and estimate pooled export demand equations for 15 OECD countries. The econometric results suggest that producing highly differentiated export goods gives a competitive advantage which allows to sell more products.     

Export survival and the dynamics of experience

This paper focuses on developing countries’ pioneer exports to the OECD and obtains several important results on export dynamics, linking export experience and export survival. Using product level data at the SITC 5-digit level for 114 developing countries over the 1962–2009 period, we show that prior export experience obtained in non-OECD markets significantly increases survival of pioneer exports toward the OECD. The experience does not need to last long, as gaining experience for more than two years does not confer any additional benefit. The effect of experience depreciates rapidly with time: a break in export experience prior to entering the OECD reduces the advantage on survival. Finally, the role of prior export experience is particularly relevant for survival in the first two years upon entry into the OECD. The geographic dynamic of export experience reveals that experience is acquired in neighboring, easy to access markets before reaching more distant, richer partners and ultimately serving the OECD with a higher probability of survival.     

The Role of Human Capital in Networks Effects: Evidence from US Exports

Abstract

Previous literature suggested that immigrants have a positive impact on international transactions such as exports. However, even though previous studies emphasize the role of individual and families in enhancing networks effects, none of these studies, surprisingly, have considered the heterogeneity of immigrants. Since each individual has different social and educational backgrounds, the impact of immigrants on exports may differ among individuals depending on their personal attributes. The main contribution of this paper is to go one step further in discussing the role of immigrants in enhancing host country exports. This research attempts to answer the question of whether all immigrants encourage host country exports or not. Using US state-level data, we find that the human capital level of immigrants plays an important role in enhancing US exports. Furthermore, using the data-sorting method developed by Hansen, we find that immigrants from countries with a high level of human capital increase US exports while immigrants from countries with a low level of human capital do not.     

China and India's Growth Surge: Is it a curse or blessing for Africa? The Case of Manufactured Exports

Abstract: In this paper, we address two major questions. First, the question of whether China and India are displacing the African manufacturing export from the third market. Second, whether there is an evidence of shifting comparative advantage from China and India to Africa. We employed a gravity model with a panel data using 13 African exporters of clothing and accessories for the period 1995–2005 to answer the first question. To answer the second question, we used a flying‐geese model and estimated Spearman's rank correlation coefficients on indices of the revealed comparative advantage vectors of the African exporters and China and India for the same period. Both the gravity and flying‐geese models predicted similar outcomes. We found that there is strong evidence that China has been displacing African manufactures from the third market while India has been complementing it in the early years of the study. However, the overall third market impact of China and India has been that of complementarity in the later years of the study period. This result is found to vary across countries. Furthermore, we found evidence of shifting comparative advantage from China and India to Africa as the flying‐geese theory predicts, South Africa being the leading goose followed by Kenya. The major implication of the study is that, in the world where China and India are reshaping the global economic order dynamically, the outcomes of the traditionally received wisdom of trade liberalization and industrialization policies through export promotion may be uncertain and requires strategic thinking.     

Trade effects of European Community preferences to Mediterranean countries: The case of textile and clothing imports

The European Community (EC)'s preferential trade agreements with Mediterranean countries have been subject to little ex post assessment. This paper analyses the preferences' impact on EC textile and clothing imports from Mediterranean countries. The preferred imports grew faster than world trade or OECD imports from developing countries, and as a proportion of EC imports and Mediterranean exports; EC preferences thus appear to have had a significant effect on Mediterranean countries' textile and clothing exports, although some recipients have taken greater advantage than others. Post-1977 EC protectionism in these products further benefited the preference-recipients, who were largely unimpeded by quatitative restrictions.     

Investigating the effect of exchange rate changes on china’s processed exports

Many argue that the renminbi needs to appreciate to rebalance China’s trade. However, empirical evidence on the effects of an RMB appreciation on China’s exports has been mixed for the largest category of exports, processed exports. Since much of the value-added of these goods comes from parts and components produced in Japan, South Korea, and other East Asian supply chain countries, it is important to control for exchange rate changes in these countries. Employing DOLS techniques and quarterly data, this paper finds that exchange rate appreciations across supply chain countries would cause a much larger drop in processed exports than a unilateral appreciation of the RMB.     

Revealed comparative advantage in manufacturing industry: The case of the Netherlands

Summary This article contains a survey of empirical evidence as regards the revealed comparative advantage of Dutch manufacturing industry. Besides, a comparison of the factors influencing comparative advantage is made for the Netherlands, Belgium and West Germany. From this review it seems rather clear the the Netherlands' industry has a revealed comparative advantage in skill-intensive products and in natural-resource intensive products. Economies of scale also seem to contribute to Dutch industry's revealed comparative advantage. The role of R&D is less clear, while physical-capital intensity apparently does not contribute to Dutch indutry's revealed comparative advantage. Also it looks like the Netherlands and West Germany have adjusted their industrial structure by moving away from simple products towards respectively skill-intensive products and fundamental products, while Belgium is rather behind in this process. The authors want to thank J. Kol for his valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Foreign direct investment, processing trade, and the sophistication of China's exports

China's export structure has shown a rapid shift towards more sophisticated industries. While some believe that this trend is a result of processing trade and foreign direct investment, the evidence is mixed. This paper examines variations in level of export sophistication across China's manufacturing industries. We find that an industry's level of export sophistication is positively related to the share of wholly foreign owned enterprises from OECD countries and the share of processing exports of foreign-invested enterprises, and negatively related to the share of processing exports of indigenous Chinese enterprises. Evidence from the relative export prices of Chinese goods, which measure within-product export sophistication, shows a similar pattern.     

Global production sharing and the FDI–trade nexus: New evidence from the Japanese automobile industry

The growing importance of global production sharing makes the nexus between outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade in intermediate goods ever more important. This study employs newly-constructed product-level data covering 32 products and 49 host countries over the period 1993–2008 and finds evidence that FDI by upstream firms leads to additional exports of intermediate goods from the home country. The finding of a complementary relationship between FDI and intermediate exports from Japan runs counter to the popular view that the growing overseas activity of multinational enterprises could replace intermediate exports from a home country, thereby depriving the home country of job opportunities.     

A test of the law of comparative advantage,revisited

This paper reconsiders one of the fundamental results in trade theory: the law of comparative advantage from an empirical point of view. The contribution of this paper is to conduct a test of the law of comparative advantage that is consistent with both balanced and unbalanced trade. To do so, this paper utilizes not only net exports valued at autarky prices but also those valued at free trade prices. The results support the empirical validity of the law of comparative advantage even after trade imbalances are taken into account.     

Effects of overseas production on home country exports: Evidence based on Swedish multinationals

Effects of Overseas Production on Home Country Exports: Evidence Based on Swedish Multinationals. —Using unique data on Swedish multinationals 1974–1990, the impacts of overseas production on parent exports are analyzed. Two methodological applications are introduced: (i) In order to avoid sample selection bias, the model includes also countries to which the firm exports, but has not established any affiliates; (ii) the effect of affiliate exports to “third countries” is incorporated. The results suggest that increased foreign production both replaces exports of finished goods and attracts intermediate goods from the parent. In contrast to previous studies, the net effect is negative, albeit significant only in the case of affiliate exports in the EC.     

LATIN AMERICAN EXPORT SPECIALIZATION IN RESOURCE‐BASED PRODUCTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR GROWTH

Given Latin America's general specialization in resource‐based products, this paper focuses on the question of whether or not a country specialized in resource‐based products can have high rates of export and economic growth. To examine this question, an attempt is made to develop and apply a new taxonomy to a sample of resource‐based products exported by Latin American countries to the United States. This taxonomy is based on the role played by prices in the mechanism through which countries compete in specific international product markets. Resource‐based products are then classified as homogeneous, differentiated, or highly differentiated goods. The paper argues that exports of countries specialized in differentiated or highly differentiated goods tend to be much more dynamic than of those specialized in homogeneous goods.     

What are China's real gains within global value chains? Measuring domestic value added in China's exports of manufactures

This paper aims to investigate China's gains of participating in global value chains (GVCs) in terms of GDP in exports (DVA - domestic value added) and the factors affecting China's gains. The paper decomposes the gross exports of China so as to get the components that make up total GDP in the exports of the country, namely the value-added exports and DVA that are returned from abroad. Then the two components are measured to obtain the scale of GDP in China's exports both on country and sector level. The results show that, firstly, both value-added exports and the GDP in China's exports are less than the traditional gross trade statistics, indicating that there is a gap of real trade gains under GVCs. Secondly, comparing whether the proportion of DVA in total exports, the proportion of DVA in exports of manufactures or the proportion of RDV in total DVA, the gaps between China and the developed countries such as the United States, Germany and Japan do exist. Especially, considering the RDV of China, the proportion is significantly lower than that of major developed countries such as the United States and Germany, indicating that China lags far behind developed countries in the capabilities of supplying high value-added intermediate goods. Lastly, the empirical results suggest that DVA in China's exports has progressively increased in response to the productivity enhancement; research and development (R&D) inputs and capital formation, and the synergies between R&D and vertical specialization affect China's DVA growth in exports positively.