Skills and changing comparative advantage: The case of Japan |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Physics, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland;2. Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, UESTC, Chengdu 610054, China;1. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellow, Gakushuin University, 1-5-1, Mejiro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-8588, Japan;2. Institute of Social Science, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan;3. JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University, 6-1, Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan;1. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Hosei University, Japan;2. Faculty of Commerce, Chuo University, Japan;3. School of Business, Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan;4. School of Economics, Tohoku University, Japan;1. Faculty of Economics, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan;2. Faculty of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, 2-1 Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8601, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Is the skill gap of net exports widening? This question is nontrivial for many industrial countries because, with the rapid growth of emerging countries, human capital is considered one of the most important sources of comparative advantage. Theoretically, however, the answer is not necessarily obvious because of changing comparative advantage. This paper attempts to answer this question by extending the analysis of Wolff (2003) and by focusing on one of the largest OECD countries, Japan, for the period 1980–2005. The results indicate that the answer to the above question may well be “no.” Although Japan is still a net exporter of skill-intensive goods, the skill gap of net exports has been narrowing since the mid-1990s, mainly as a result of the changes in the composition of trade. This implies that some OECD countries, including Japan, may have been losing their comparative advantage in skill-intensive goods in recent years. |
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| Keywords: | Skills Comparative advantage Factor content of trade Japan |
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