This thesis provides a description of the market for maritime container transport with a focus on container imbalances in Central Europe. Based on secondary literature, statistics and interviews, the current situation of global maritime trade and existing challenges for shipping lines is presented. In the second part, particular characteristics of the Central European market are introduced. Besides a detailed description of the infrastructure for container transports to and from this region, challenges and strategies considered by shipping lines are presented. It is highlighted that the export orientation of Germany and Austria and the import orientation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia have certain implications for the regional transport market. A real-life business case highlights existing problems, especially connected to the internal setup of ocean carriers which do not exploit all potentials of cross-border cooperation.

The aim of the thesis is to characterize the folding containers as one of the potential solutions to the problem of the repositioning of empty containers and to evaluate the possibility of their practical use in intermodal transport. The theoretical part characterizes contemporary development in international trade, intermodal transportation, the issue of empty containers and also characterizes foldable containers together with the assumptions of their successful introduction to the market. The practical part deals with current concepts of foldable containers, there is also an example for comparing the costs of transport when using standard or foldable containers and the opinion of a representative of one of the leading shipping companies on use foldable containers in practice. To obtain information used in the practical part of the thesis a secondary research was carried out, where most information comes from research papers and websites, and also primary research was done in the form of an interview with a representative of the shipping company. In conclusion is the evaluation of the possibility of using foldable containers in practice which is based on the information obtained through research.

The introduction of the Euro in 1999 has led to significant economic divergences among European countries, particularly between Northern and Central European nations like Germany and Austria, and Mediterranean countries such as France and Italy. These divergences are prominently reflected in trade imbalances. This dissertation investigates the primary drivers of these economic disparities, focusing on the role of international competitiveness. Competitiveness, defined as a nation's ability to market its products globally, is analyzed through both price and non-price factors. The research highlights several methodological challenges in assessing trade flows and competitiveness. Key findings indicate that price competitiveness, measured through unit labour costs, significantly impacts export performance. Empirical evidence reveals a negative export elasticity to prices in the European context, emphasizing the importance of cost competitiveness even for high-tech sectors. Non-price competitiveness factors, although less robust in empirical models, contribute to a comprehensive narrative when assessed descriptively. The dissertation’s contributions enrich the debate on intra-European trade imbalances, particularly through comparative analyses of Germany and Italy. The findings suggest that Germany’s export success is strongly linked to price competitiveness, while Italy’s weaker performance is due to deteriorations in both price and non-price competitiveness. These insights underline the necessity for economic policies to prioritize cost competitiveness as a determinant of industrial success. In conclusion, this dissertation provides a clearer understanding of the complex factors influencing international trade dynamics within the Eurozone, offering a foundation for future research to explore causal relationships and further investigate non-price competitiveness.:List of contents Preface of the Author i Overview of Research Papers iii List of Tables iv List of Figures v I. Executive Summary 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background and Literature Review 2 1.2.1 Cumulative causation and export-led growth 2 1.2.2 The Kaldor paradox and the discovery of non-price competitiveness 3 1.2.3 The case of Germany and Italy 5 1.3 Presentation of Research Articles 7 1.3.1 Idea 7 1.3.2 Shared methodological framework 8 1.3.3 Summary of Research Article I 8 1.3.4 Summary of Research article II 10 1.3.5 Summary of Research article III 11 1.4 Conclusion 12 1.4.1 Main results 12 1.4.2 Contribution to the European debate 13 1.4.3 Closing remarks 14 II. Research Articles 15 2.1 Article I: The Challenging Estimation of Trade Elasticities: Tackling the Inconclusive Eurozone Evidence 15 2.1.1 Introduction 15 2.1.2 The empirical export equation 16 2.1.3 The unreliable price coefficient 21 2.1.4 Inferential Evidence 26 2.1.5 Conclusion 33   2.2 Article II: Competing for Manufacturing Value Added: How Strong is Competitive Cost Pressure on Sectoral Level? 35 2.2.1 Introduction 35 2.2.2 Background 36 2.2.3 Empirical approach 39 2.3.4 Results 43 2.3.5 Conclusion 51 2.3. Article III: Assessing the Role of Non-Price Factors: Shedding New Light on the European Competitiveness Puzzle 52 2.3.1 Introduction 52 2.3.2 Non-price competitiveness: Meaning, proxies and procedural Issues 53 2.3.3 Empirical Evidence 57 2.3.4 Discussion 70 2.3.5 Conclusion 74 References 76 Appendix I i Appendix II viii Appendix III xvii

La phase la plus récente de la mondialisation, Chaînes de Valeur Mondiales (CVM), est datée du début des années 1990. La naissance de l'Organisation Mondiale du Commerce a abattu de nombreuses barrières commerciales et a conduit à la libéralisation dans des domaines tels que les télécommunications, les services financiers et les technologies de l'information. Cela a suscité l'émergence de nouveaux modèles d'affaires qui s'appuyaient sur de nouvelles opportunités pour développer des avantages comparatifs. Il s'est développé dans un flux constant d'investissement, de technologies, de biens intermédiaires et les services aux entreprises. C'est ce qu'on a appelé la «chaîne d'approvisionnement internationale». La principale caractéristique de ce phénomène est l'augmentation du commerce des biens finaux et intermédiaires entre les pays. Les biens intermédiaires ont généré la structure de production du réseau du commerce international et, donc, l'exposition à de nouveaux défis économiques qui ne sont pas saisis et pleinement compris par les statistiques commerciales bilatéraux. L'existence du réseau commercial international, liant les pays non seulement du côté de la consommation mais aussi de la production, fait que le contenu à valeur ajoutée du commerce diffère des exportations brutes. C'est précisément la valeur ajoutée qui est le principal objet d'intérêt économique parce qu'elle détermine l'activité économique et le niveau global de l'emploi dans un pays. La question principale est donc de savoir si les changements dans l'organisation du commerce mondial devraient conduire à une révision de nos intuitions économiques. C'est l'objet de cette thèse, dans laquelle je passe en revue de nombreux sujets et d'hypothèses économiques pressantes et les relie aux schémas de production mondiaux.Cette thèse couvre les thèmes suivants: (i) le rôle des accords de libre-échange et des technologies de l'information et de la communication "captés comme effet frontière"; (ii) les élasticités des exportations à valeur ajoutée; les déséquilibres commerciaux. Alors que les résultats pour de nombreux pays sont rapportés, j'accorde une attention particulière aux pays européens. D'une manière générale, les résultats montrent que (i) les accords de libre-échange augmentent le commerce bilatéral de 54% en moyenne après 10 ans ou plus, au tant pour les biens finaux que pour les biens intermédiaires. Le "border effect" est devenu moins contraignant avec le temps, les échanges de biens finaux ont augmenté de 443% par rapport au commerce intérieur depuis 1970, tandis que la hausse a été de 195% pour les biens intermédiaires. Ils fournissent également la preuve que l'effet des accords de libre-échange sur le commerce s'est renforcé avec le temps. (ii) Les conséquences de négliger la dimension des CVM pour l'élasticité des exportations à valeur ajoutée sont qu'elles ne sont pas constantes dans le temps et inférieures à celles des exportations brutes. Une contribution importante est ici de mettre en place un cadre souple qui lie les changements dans les exportations à valeur ajoutée aux changements dans le flux réel des biens finaux et intermédiaires. Cela rend plus facile de calculer d'autres outils qui ont été développés auparavant dans la littérature, comme les taux de change effectif réel (REER) en termes de valeur ajoutée. (iii) L'utilisation d'une approche à valeur ajoutée pour étudier les déséquilibres commerciaux montre que nous ne comprenons toujours pas complètement les causes et les conséquences de ces déséquilibres et que les CVM ne font que compliquer davantage les choses. Par conséquence, je démêle les différentes composantes de la dynamique de la balance commerciale (la performance commerciale et la croissance de la demande) tout en intégrant les liens internationaux du réseau de production entrées-sorties. Enfin, j'explique dans quelle mesure les dévaluations internes sont suffisantes pour compenser la rigidité des taux de change intra-Euro. / The most recent phase of globalization, the so-called Global Value Chains (GVCs), is dated at the beginning of the 1990s. The birth of the World Trade Organization brought down many trade barriers and led to liberalization in areas like telecommunications, financial services, and information technologies. It meant the emergence of new business models that built on new opportunities to develop comparative advantages. With the opening of new markets, the technical revolution in IT and communications, and the closer harmonization of economic models worldwide, trade became much more than just a simple exchange of merchandise across borders. It developed into a constant flow of investment, of technologies, of goods for processing and business services. This is what has been called the "International Supply Chain". The key characteristic of this phenomenon is the increasing trade in final and intermediate goods among countries. Intermediate goods generated the network production structure of international trade and with it the exposure to new policy challenges that are not captured and fully understand by bilateral trade statistics. The existence of the international trade network, linking countries not only on the consumption side but also on production, makes the value-added content of trade to differ from gross exports. Nevertheless, it is precisely domestic value added the primary object of economic interest because it determines economic activity and the overall employment level in a country. The main question, therefore, is whether the changes in the organization of world trade should lead to a revision on our Economic intuitions. This is the purpose of this thesis, in which I review many pressing economic topics and hypotheses, and connect them with the global production patterns.This thesis covers the topics of (i) the trade-enhancing role of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT, "captured as a border effect"), (ii) value-added exports elasticities, and (iii) trade imbalances. While results for many countries are reported, I pay particular attention to the European countries. Broadly speaking, results show that (i) FTAs increase bilateral trade by 54% on average after 10 or more years, for both final goods and intermediate inputs. The border effect has become less binding over time, increasing trade in final goods an astounding 443%, relative to domestic trade since 1970, while the rise has been 195% for intermediate inputs. They also provide evidence that the trade effect of FTAs has strengthened over time. (ii) The implications of neglecting the GVC dimension for the value-added export elasticity are that it is not constant over time and lower than for gross exports. An important contribution here is to put in place a tractable framework that links changes in value-added exports to changes in the actual flow of final and intermediate goods. This makes easier to compute other tools that have been developed before in the literature like GVC Real Effective Exchange Rates (REERs). (iii) Using a value-added approach to study trade imbalances shows that we still do not have a full understanding of the causes and consequences of these imbalances and that GVC only makes it more challenging. Therefore, I disentangle the different components of the trade balance dynamics (trade performance and demand growth) while incorporating the international input-output production network linkages. Finally, I shed some light on to what extent internal devaluations are sufficient to offset the intra-Euro nominal exchange rigidity.