This study investigates the causal relationship among comparative advantage, exports and economic growth by using the time series annual data for the period of 1980-2009 on 13 developing countries. The purpose is to develop an understanding of causal relationship and explore the differences or similarities among different sectors of several developing countries that are in different stages of development and how their comparative advantage influences the exports, which further effect the economic growth of the country. The co-integration and the vector error correction techniques are used to explore the causal relationship among the three variables. The results suggest bi-directional or mutual long run relationship between comparative advantage, exports and economic growth in most of the developing countries. The overall long run results of the study favour the export led growth hypothesis that exports precede the growth in case of all countries except for Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The short run mutual relationship exists mostly among the three variables except for Malaysian exports and growth and its comparative advantage and GDP and for Singapore‟s exports and growth. The short run causality runs from exports to gross domestic product (GDP). So overall, short run results favour export led growth in all cases except for Malaysia, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Numerous empirical studies have shown the difficulties associated with the transmission of knowledge and the limitations of its diffusion process. What are the implications of these difficulties and limitations to international economics? This dissertation deals with this question by looking at how productive knowledge plays a role in the evolution of the comparative advantage of nations and the international expansion of multinational corporations. The first chapter finds that a country is 65% more likely to start exporting a good that is being exported by any of its geographic neighbors, consistently with evidence on the limited geographic patterns of knowledge diffusion. The second chapter finds that migrants, serving as carriers of productive knowledge, play a role in explaining the appearances of new export industries in both their sending and receiving countries. In particular, in terms of their ability to induce exports in the average country, an increase of only 65,000 people in the stock of migrants is associated with about 15% increase in the likelihood of adding a new product to a country's export basket. The figure becomes 15,000 for skilled migrants. The third chapter looks at how the barriers to knowledge transmission within the firm limit the horizontal expansion of multinational corporations. The findings suggest that multinational corporations are, on average, about 12% less likely to horizontally expand a sector that is one standard deviation above the mean in the knowledge intensity scale.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 312-352).

Efficient policies to stimulate the competitiveness of firms require knowledge of future firm-strategies and a proper assessment of the location advantages of a country or region. Therefore, industry comparative advantage analysis needs to be complemented by firm competitive advantage analysis. This yields four hypotheses of firm strategies on the basis of the existing advantage combination. Detailed empirical analysis of a representative sample of Austrian manufacturing firms during 1990- 2000 shows that changes in employment, value-added and exports are in line with the suggested development. Three of the 3-digit industries lost their advantages while seven industries gained advantages, yet overall industry distribution has been remarkable stable over the four advantage combinations. In terms of number of firms, however, a large share (30%) of the total population shifts between advantage combinations even during short periods of time. The firm strategies outlined suggest a differentiated policy approach, yet the short-term dynamics revealed empirically imply a high potential for policy failure. / Series: Working Papers Series "Growth and Employment in Europe: Sustainability and Competitiveness"

Significant growth rates are in many times associated with countries embracing the ongoing globalization and openness to the international market of exchanging goods and services as well as ideas and technologies. Many researchers believe that participating in an international economy is a primary source of growth. The question is how strong the relationship between openness and growth is and has interested many researchers. This paper aims to investigate the effects of trade openness on economic growth in the long run and begins from Adam smith`s discussion on absolute advantage and specialization to discussions on trade organizations and policies. This study explores the relationship between trade openness and economic growth using a sample of 3 developed countries over the period (1970 – 2006) in a panel data analysis. The fixed effects model analysis indicates that trade openness has a positive and significant effect on economic growth.

A participação do Brasil no mercado externo de frutas tem aumentado nos últimos anos e, apesar de o Brasil não apresentar participação relevante no mercado internacional, sabe-se que pode crescer ainda mais, visto o potencial do País. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a competitividade das exportações brasileiras de frutas no mercado internacional, possibilitando identificar os fatores que têm sido responsáveis pelos ganhos de competitividade das exportações brasileiras de frutas entre os anos de 1989 a 2006. Para a realização deste estudo foram selecionadas as sete principais frutas frescas exportadas pelo Brasil em 2007: banana, lima/limão, maçã, mamão, manga, melão e uva. A base teórica utilizada foi o conceito de competitividade e os modelos Constant Market Share - CMS e Vantagem Comparativa Revelada - VCR. Quanto aos efeitos que mais contribuíram para o desempenho das exportações de frutas brasileiras, o efeito competitividade foi o mais importante, principalmente no segundo período analisado (1997/98/99 a 2004/05/06). O mamão foi a única fruta para qual os efeitos crescimento de mercado e destino das exportações foram mais representativos do que a competitividade. Apesar de o modelo CMS distinguir os efeitos explicativos da evolução das exportações, esse modelo não permite a identificação dos fatores que explicam o efeito competitividade. Assim, algumas variáveis foram analisadas no estudo na tentativa de explicar os fatores que contribuíram para a competitividade. Dentre elas o câmbio, o preço e a qualidade foram as mais importantes. No geral, o dólar valorizado contribuiu para o aumento da competitividade das frutas. Quanto ao preço de exportação da fruta nacional mais atrativo no mercado externo, ele apresentou maior peso quando o produto enfrenta no mercado destino a concorrência com frutas de outras origens. No estudo, verificou-se que o preço atrativo da fruta brasileira foi importante para explicar o fator competitividade para banana, maçã e manga. Já no caso das frutas exportadas pelo País na entressafra dos principais concorrentes, o principal fator foi o ganho de qualidade da fruta brasileira e a diversificação das variedades exportadas. Esse foi o caso da uva e do melão, que ao longo dos anos 2000 conseguiu melhorar a qualidade da fruta e ofertar um portfólio maior de variedades. No caso do grupo lima/limão, que tem na lima ácida tahiti o seu maior representante, o esforço da cadeia em mostrar uma nova fruta, até então desconhecida pelo consumidor europeu, foi um dos principais fatores que explicam o fator competitividade. / Brazil\'s participation in the international market of fruits has increased in recent years and, although Brazil does not present a relevant participation in the international market, it is known that can grow even more, seen the potential of the country. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the Brazilian exports competitiveness of fruit in the international market, possible to identify factors that have been responsible for gains in competitiveness in Brazilian exports of fruit between the years 1989 to 2006. For this study were selected the seven main fresh fruits exported by Brazil in 2007: banana, lime/lemon, apple, papaya, mango, melon and grapes. The theoretical basis used was the concept of competitiveness, and the models Constant Market Share - CMS and Revealed Comparative Advantage - VCA. The effect that most contributed to the Brazilian exports performance of fruit was the competitiveness, especially in the second period analyzed (1997/98/99 to 2004/05/06). The papaya was the only fruit for which the effect market growth and destination of the exportations had been more representative of the competitiveness. Although the CMS model distinguishes the effects explaining the evolution of exports, this model does not allow the identification of the factors that explain the competitiveness effect. Thus, some variables were analyzed in the study in an attempt to explain the factors that contributed to competitiveness. Among them the exchange rate, price and quality were most important. Overall, the valuated dollar contributed for the increase of the competitiveness of the fruits. As the price of domestic exports of fruit was more attractive in foreign markets, it showed better weight when the product faces competition in the market destination with fruit from other origins. In the study, we found that the attractive price of Brazilian fruit was important to explain the competitiveness factor for banana, apple and mango. In the case of the fruits exported for the Country in the period between harvests of the main competitors, the main factor of the Brazilian fruit was the gain in quality and the diversification of the exported varieties. This was the case of grapes and melons, which over the years 2000 has improved the quality of fruit and offered a bigger portfolio of varieties. In the case of the group lime/lemon, which has in the Tahiti acid lime the better representative, the chains effort was to show a new fruit, until then unknown by European consumers, it was one of the main factors to explain the competitiveness factor.

Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-04-13T12:28:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 analise_grau.pdf: 1676376 bytes, checksum: e997ebabd90069380488b17bdd25bd3f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-13T12:28:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 analise_grau.pdf: 1676376 bytes, checksum: e997ebabd90069380488b17bdd25bd3f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-29 / Nenhuma / A presente dissertação tem como objetivo analisar o grau de competitividade do setor de biscoitos do Brasil entre 2000 e 2008, a partir de medidas de consumo, importação, exportação e produção dos maiores paises produtores. O estudo utiliza o Índice de Vantagem Comparativa Revelada (IVCR) para mensurar o grau de competitividade deste setor, considerando sete grupos de produtos, a seis dígitos do Sistema harmonizado (SH). Os resultados mostram que entre os sete grupos de biscoitos examinados, em apenas dois o Brasil apresentava um IVCR superior a um, em 2008, com apenas um mostrando um aumento do índice entre 2000 e 2008. Um aspecto preocupante e, até paradoxal, para o Brasil se refere ao país ser mais competitivo em panetone, cujas vendas globais são as menores, de apenas US$ 262,6 milhões, em 2008. Enquanto isso, naquele grupo onde o país apresenta a menor competitividade (outros produtos de padaria), o volume global de comércio é o mais elevado entre todos os grupos de biscoitos, chegando a US$ 12,9 bilhões no mesmo ano. Nesse sentido, concluiu-se que o mercado do setor de biscoitos, apesar de ser grande em produção, é tímido na construção da distribuição internacional, o que pode ser atribuído a fatores como falta de visão e relacionamento com o mercado externo. / The present work aims at analyzing the degree of competitiveness of the sector of cookies of Brazil between 2000 and 2008, based on measures of consumption, imports, exports and production of the largest producers. The study employs the Revealed Comparative Advantage Index (RCA) to measure the degree of competitiveness of this sector, considering seven groups of products at 6-digit level of the Harmonized System (HS). The results show that in only two groups Brazil presented a RCA above unity in 2008, with only one showing an increase in the index between 2000 e 2008. One worrying and paradoxical issue is related to the fact that the country has competitiveness in a product which the global market is rather small. Meanwhile, in that group where the country shows the smaller competitiveness, the global volume of trade is the largest, reaching US$ 12,9 billion in 2008. In this sense, one may conclude that despite having a large production of cookies, Brazil is quite timid in foreign markets, what could be attributed to factors such as lack of vision and weak relationships with the global world.

A participação do Brasil no mercado externo de frutas tem aumentado nos últimos anos e, apesar de o Brasil não apresentar participação relevante no mercado internacional, sabe-se que pode crescer ainda mais, visto o potencial do País. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a competitividade das exportações brasileiras de frutas no mercado internacional, possibilitando identificar os fatores que têm sido responsáveis pelos ganhos de competitividade das exportações brasileiras de frutas entre os anos de 1989 a 2006. Para a realização deste estudo foram selecionadas as sete principais frutas frescas exportadas pelo Brasil em 2007: banana, lima/limão, maçã, mamão, manga, melão e uva. A base teórica utilizada foi o conceito de competitividade e os modelos Constant Market Share - CMS e Vantagem Comparativa Revelada - VCR. Quanto aos efeitos que mais contribuíram para o desempenho das exportações de frutas brasileiras, o efeito competitividade foi o mais importante, principalmente no segundo período analisado (1997/98/99 a 2004/05/06). O mamão foi a única fruta para qual os efeitos crescimento de mercado e destino das exportações foram mais representativos do que a competitividade. Apesar de o modelo CMS distinguir os efeitos explicativos da evolução das exportações, esse modelo não permite a identificação dos fatores que explicam o efeito competitividade. Assim, algumas variáveis foram analisadas no estudo na tentativa de explicar os fatores que contribuíram para a competitividade. Dentre elas o câmbio, o preço e a qualidade foram as mais importantes. No geral, o dólar valorizado contribuiu para o aumento da competitividade das frutas. Quanto ao preço de exportação da fruta nacional mais atrativo no mercado externo, ele apresentou maior peso quando o produto enfrenta no mercado destino a concorrência com frutas de outras origens. No estudo, verificou-se que o preço atrativo da fruta brasileira foi importante para explicar o fator competitividade para banana, maçã e manga. Já no caso das frutas exportadas pelo País na entressafra dos principais concorrentes, o principal fator foi o ganho de qualidade da fruta brasileira e a diversificação das variedades exportadas. Esse foi o caso da uva e do melão, que ao longo dos anos 2000 conseguiu melhorar a qualidade da fruta e ofertar um portfólio maior de variedades. No caso do grupo lima/limão, que tem na lima ácida tahiti o seu maior representante, o esforço da cadeia em mostrar uma nova fruta, até então desconhecida pelo consumidor europeu, foi um dos principais fatores que explicam o fator competitividade. / Brazil\'s participation in the international market of fruits has increased in recent years and, although Brazil does not present a relevant participation in the international market, it is known that can grow even more, seen the potential of the country. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the Brazilian exports competitiveness of fruit in the international market, possible to identify factors that have been responsible for gains in competitiveness in Brazilian exports of fruit between the years 1989 to 2006. For this study were selected the seven main fresh fruits exported by Brazil in 2007: banana, lime/lemon, apple, papaya, mango, melon and grapes. The theoretical basis used was the concept of competitiveness, and the models Constant Market Share - CMS and Revealed Comparative Advantage - VCA. The effect that most contributed to the Brazilian exports performance of fruit was the competitiveness, especially in the second period analyzed (1997/98/99 to 2004/05/06). The papaya was the only fruit for which the effect market growth and destination of the exportations had been more representative of the competitiveness. Although the CMS model distinguishes the effects explaining the evolution of exports, this model does not allow the identification of the factors that explain the competitiveness effect. Thus, some variables were analyzed in the study in an attempt to explain the factors that contributed to competitiveness. Among them the exchange rate, price and quality were most important. Overall, the valuated dollar contributed for the increase of the competitiveness of the fruits. As the price of domestic exports of fruit was more attractive in foreign markets, it showed better weight when the product faces competition in the market destination with fruit from other origins. In the study, we found that the attractive price of Brazilian fruit was important to explain the competitiveness factor for banana, apple and mango. In the case of the fruits exported for the Country in the period between harvests of the main competitors, the main factor of the Brazilian fruit was the gain in quality and the diversification of the exported varieties. This was the case of grapes and melons, which over the years 2000 has improved the quality of fruit and offered a bigger portfolio of varieties. In the case of the group lime/lemon, which has in the Tahiti acid lime the better representative, the chains effort was to show a new fruit, until then unknown by European consumers, it was one of the main factors to explain the competitiveness factor.

<p>Distance is of great influence when deciding whom to trade with. This thesis examines how the importance of distance in international trade has evolved. This is done using an extended generalized gravity model, which includes population, real exchange rate and a dummy variable for membership in the European Union. Using data for the EU27 and the four largest economies in the world outside of EU, this model estimates the effect of distance on trade from 1980 to 2005. This thesis shows that the impact of distance has evolved towards having a greater negative effect on trade during the observed years. The reason for this could be a development towards regional trade, at the expense of long-distance trade.</p>

In this thesis I have examined the role of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in fuelling hostcountries economic developments. By looking closer into Mexico and the case of automobile industry which has been historically the subject of control of foreign affiliates I observed coinciding patterns. Through North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the channels between trade and investments have become more obvious and even transparent. Speaking about Mexico’s economic developments, albeit the total volumes of trade have increased, the country’s terms-of- trade were deteriorating following the post-NAFTA years. While conducting the research I have made use of neo-liberal economic discourses, theories of international trade and investment in order to explain the underlying motives for free-trade. These motives offer solid arguments to adopt the strategy of export orientation. While investigating the investments form multinationals and comparable Mexican trade performance, I have fund that exports and FDI flows have seemingly unrelated. The country has been a significant receiver of foreign imports at the time of post-NAFTA developments and huge FDI inflows. The result was that capacity of domestic production was limited and the trade imbalance ensured. Analysis explores closer relation between FDI and the country’s import levels which cause deterioration in the terms of trade and economic growth. The explanation lies in the nature of FDI per se. The type of investment in Mexico is essentially market-seeking, since it adjusts to the international competitive pressures, and search access to comparatively advantageous foreign markets, explained by the theory of capital movements. This paper also questions and raises concern with regard to the consequences of these pressures that leads to race-to-the-bottom policies.