Based on the insight that the type of product an economy exports can have important implications for its economic performance and that goods exported predominantly by rich countries will have different characteristics from those exported by poor countries, Lall et al (2006) put forward a novel means of classifying commodities based on the income levels of a product¿s main exporters. At around the same time Hausmann et al (2006) following a similar approach put forward a slightly different form of product classification and Rodrik (2006) applied this specifically to an analysis of China. This paper highlights the difference between the approaches and its implications for the analysis of China, which appears less `special¿ using the approach of Lall et al.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (February 23, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-66)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Yale University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-172).

This thesis aims at deepen our understanding of the Swedish arms exports, especially the relationship between the spoken words of politicians and actual policy outcome. The research question for the thesis is “To what extent do specific frames deployed by the media and politicians about the character of the importing state, the type of arms exported, the inter-state relationship and the economic interests lead to a legitimation crisis in an arms exporting nation which ends arms exports and military cooperation?” This thesis is especially looking at Swedish arms deals with Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Thailand. In a content analysis of the Swedish media and politicians, and by using theories of legitimation and framing, the thesis analyses how these frames can affect the legitimation of an arms deal, and explaining different policy outcomes. The analysis shows that the most common frame to use to frame a receiving country or an arms deal negatively is to frame the character of the importing state in negative terms and also connect the arms exports to the regime in the receiving country. On the other side, to defend an arms deal it is most common to frame it as an economic interest that are of national interest. Lastly, the thesis can show that the Swedish arms deal with Saudi Arabia created a legitimation crisis, which was not the case for the deals with Thailand and South Africa, and this can help us understand why the military cooperation agreement between Sweden and Saudi Arabia was ended.

Orientador: Célio Hiratuka / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T02:06:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cunha_SamanthaFerreirae_D.pdf: 2834795 bytes, checksum: 993585882a5e7c78fde325513425305b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Estudos recentes, utilizando classificações de mercadorias com um alto grau de detalhamento, constataram em um mesmo produto e mercado de destino, grandes diferenças de preços entre os países exportadores. Estabeleceu-se a visão de que a especialização comercial ocorre no interior da categoria de produto, ao longo de variedades. A princípio, variedades são mercadorias sob um mesmo código, mas vendidas a valores unitários distintos (diferenciação vertical de produto). A literatura emergiu nos países desenvolvidos, preocupada com os efeitos da concorrência com as variedades dos países de baixos salários. Essa nova visão da especialização comercial é o ponto de partida para tratar de um tema de grande apelo no contexto atual, o da concorrência com os produtos chineses em terceiros mercados. O trabalho procura contribuir com o tema, investigando a importância do comércio em produtos verticalmente diferenciados na caracterização do padrão de especialização comercial do Brasil comparativamente à China, considerando os principais mercados consumidores de manufaturados brasileiros (ALADI, MERCOSUL e NAFTA). A análise observa diretamente os valores unitários dos fluxos de comércio para inferir sobre a qualidade relativa dos produtos exportados entre o Brasil e a China. Alternativamente, por meio de uma equação de regressão com dados em painel, utiliza dados de preço e quantidade exportados para estimar a influência da `margem qualidade¿ no crescimento das exportações para cada mercado de destino selecionado. O período de análise são os anos 2001 a 2010; os dados são oferecidos por uma nova base de dados de comércio internacional, a BACI. Em geral, as evidências encontradas mostram que o Brasil resistiu melhor a concorrência com os produtos chineses nos segmentos de preço médio e superior, pois foram os segmentos em que ampliou a sua participação (até 10,0 pontos percentuais); esse resultado é observado nas diferentes indústrias e mercados de destino selecionados. Em relação à importância da `margem qualidade¿ no crescimento das exportações, os resultados das estimações mostraram que há diferenças entre os países exportadores quanto à qualidade das exportações nos diferentes mercados de destino; os países de renda per capita mais alta tendem a exportar maiores quantidades, a preços até 12,0% mais altos. Isso significa que há espaço para os países em desenvolvimento aumentarem a qualidade de suas exportações, o que deve ser complementar ao esforço de diversificação da pauta de exportações / Abstract: Recent studies, using highly detailed commodity classifications, have found large price differences among exporting countries, considering the same product and destination market. The idea that trade specialization occurs within product, along varieties, was established. Originally, varieties are goods under the same code but sold with different unit values (vertical product differentiation). The literature has emerged in developed countries, worried about the effects of competition with the varieties of low-wage countries. This new approach to trade specialization is the starting point for discussing a topic of great appeal in the current scenario of competition with Chinese products in third markets. This study aims to contribute to the discussions on that topic, investigating the importance of trade in vertically differentiated products in characterizing the patterns of trade specialization of Brazil in comparison with China, considering the main destination markets of Brazilian manufactures (LAIA, MERCOSUR and NAFTA). The analysis uses directly the unit values of trade flows to infer the relative quality of exported products between Brazil and China. Alternatively, by means of a regression equation with panel data, it uses price and quantity data to estimate the influence of the quality margin in the growth of exports for each selected destination market. The period of analysis comprises the years 2001 to 2010; the data are made available by a new international trade database, BACI. In general, the results show that Brazil has better resisted to the competition with Chinese products in the medium and upper segments of the market, because those were the segments in which Brazil has expanded its share (up to 10.0 percentage points); the observed results hold among different industries and selected destination markets. Considering the importance of the quality margin in the growth of exports, the results showed that there are differences between exporting countries regarding the quality of exports in the different destination markets; countries with higher per capita income export larger quantities, with prices up to 12% higher. This means that there is room for developing countries to raise the quality of their exports, and this should complement the efforts of export diversification / Doutorado / Teoria Economica / Doutora em Ciências Econômicas

Orientador: Célio Hiratuka / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T05:54:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Modolo_DeboraBellucci_M.pdf: 2149399 bytes, checksum: 224b8cccd56c0548865934ac13ede844 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: A ascensão da China como potência econômica e sua presença crescente nos mercados mundiais têm sido motivo de grande atenção no debate internacional. Em especial, o aumento da competitividade chinesa no comércio internacional e a acentuada expansão de suas exportações de manufaturados levantam preocupações a respeito das exportações chinesas estarem substituindo exportações de outros países nos mercados importadores. Nesse sentido, este estudo busca verificar se ao longo dos últimos anos, de 2000 a 2009, a competição das exportações chinesas tem deslocado as exportações mundiais em terceiros mercados, dialogando com outros estudos no tema. A contribuição deste trabalho consiste em fornecer uma análise geral da concorrência chinesa em terceiros mercados, que contemple diferentes regiões do globo de maneira comparativa, além de diferentes segmentos tecnológicos, por meio da utilização do modelo gravitacional. Este estudo também permite distinguir o impacto da competição chinesa sobre as exportações brasileiras de manufaturados, o que se mostra relevante em virtude de o país ser considerado o mais industrializado da América Latina. Assim, a partir das estimações do modelo foi possível identificar grupos de países e categorias de produtos mais afetados pela concorrência chinesa. As evidências encontradas apontam que o efeito das exportações chinesas sobre as exportações mundiais é predominantemente negativo. Destaca-se o setor de manufaturados de média tecnologia como o segmento mais afetado pela competição chinesa. Os resultados também indicam que as economias em desenvolvimento experimentam o maior efeito negativo da concorrência chinesa, principalmente os países asiáticos emergentes. No caso do Brasil, os resultados mostram que o impacto negativo da competição chinesa sobre as exportações de manufaturados se mostra tão intenso quanto para os países asiáticos emergentes / Abstract: The emergence of China as a major player in the global economy and its growing presence in world markets have attracted much attention in international debate. In particular, the increasing competitiveness of China in international trade and the extraordinary expansion of its manufactured exports, raise concerns about Chinese competition in third markets. Accordingly, this study seeks to examine if over the last years, from 2000 to 2009, Chinese exports have been displacing exports of other countries in importing markets, considering other studies in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the Chinese competition in third markets considering different regions of the world and different technological sectors in a comparative approach, using the gravity model. This study also identifies the impact of Chinese competition on Brazilian exports of manufactured goods, which appears relevant because the country is considered the most industrialized in Latin America. Thus, the estimates of the model allowed to recognize groups of exporting countries and product categories most affected by Chinese competition. The evidences from this study indicate that the effect of Chinese exports on global exports is mainly negative. The medium-technology manufacturing sector was pointed out as the most affected sector by Chinese exports. The results also indicate that developing economies have been most affected, especially the emerging Asian countries. In the case of Brazil, the results suggest that the negative impact of Chinese competition on manufactured goods exports is as intense as to emerging Asian countries / Mestrado / Ciências Economicas / Mestre em Ciências Econômicas

Globalisation has changed the world economy. Manufacturers face vigorous competition in both local and export markets and need to have a genuine competitive advantage in order to prosper and grow. South Africa is still predominantly a resource based exporter with high aspirations of developing trade in value-added products. The government has recognised the importance of developing national manufacturing capacity as a means of increasing employment and reducing poverty. To this end the government provides substantial support to both the manufacturing and exporting sectors. The government also negotiated the Southern African Development Community (SADC) agreement which leverages some powerful competitive advantages for South African manufacturers exporting into the region. However, since ratification of the SADC agreement in 2008 there has been no perceptible increase in export activity to the region when compared to other markets. This research study was conducted to determine why this is the case and what factors are influencing the process. A literature review was undertaken encapsulating three principal themes; namely, export barriers, the role of the South African government in the export process, and the SADC agreement. Based on the findings of the literature review a research questionnaire was constructed and subsequently completed by a cross section of manufacturers in the Eastern Cape. It was found that export barriers do not pose a major obstacle to trade into the SADC region. The role the government plays was less conclusive with some successes noted, but on the whole the impact is not meaningfully positive. On the other hand the SADC agreement and the dynamics prevailing in the free trade area do have a positive impact on exports to the region. The level of awareness with regard to the government support initiatives was disappointingly low. The government offers a number of helpful support initiatives which are unknown to more than half the response group. The awareness level of the dynamics prevailing in the SADC region are an improvement but are still surprisingly low. South African manufacturers enjoy significant competitive advantages within the region that are going largely unnoticed. It is recommended, inter alia, that the government consolidates some of its support initiatives, as well as provides a dedicated SADC support desk. Management should adopt an export culture and re-evaluate the opportunity to trade with the SADC region.

Exports have considerable effects on economic growth, employment and trade so it is crucial to understand the factors that are responsible for their variation. This study analyses the fundamental determinants of exports using annual South African data covering the period 1980 to 2006. It initially provides an overview of the South African export structure and export growth. A review of theoretical determinants is then specified. The study tests for stationarity and cointegration using the Johansen (1991, 1995) methodology. A vector error correction model is run to provide robust determinant variables on exports. The following variables which have been found to have a long run relationship with exports include: the domestic price of exports, real effective exchange rate, trade openness, foreign income and price of inputs (cost of production). The estimate of the speed of adjustment coefficient found in this study indicates that about 96% of the variation in exports from its equilibrium level is corrected within one year. The results that have emerged from this analysis corroborate the theoretical predictions and are also supported by previous researchers or studies.

This dissertation contains four essays in spatial and international economics. Chapter 1 investigates how housing variety varies across space. Housing costs are key in understanding real income differences across space and time. Standard measures of housing costs do not account for availability differences, where some housing varieties are available in certain cities or time periods but not others. When households have idiosyncratic preferences over housing units, the set of available housing varieties in a city matters. This paper develops theoretically-founded housing price indices to measure housing costs that account for availability differences. To allow for flexible substitution patterns, I propose a method to jointly estimate the nests that varieties belong to and the elasticity of substitution across varieties within each nest. I find that households in larger cities benefit from having access to varieties not available in smaller cities. Utility-consistent housing prices reduce the elasticity of housing prices with respect to population by a half. Since housing is a third of household expenditure, this implies that we have systematically underestimated real income and overestimated residual amenities in larger cities. In contrast to previous estimates, I find that real income is increasing in city size after accounting for availability differences. Chapter 2 investigates the factors that cause incomplete pass-through of exchange rate shocks into border prices. This paper examines the role of decreasing returns to scale, a channel that has received limited empirical and theoretical attention. Based on a first-order approximation to a firm's optimal price, I show that 1) decreasing returns to scale interacts with variable markups, imported inputs, and destination non-traded costs to generate incomplete pass-through, 2) there is asymmetry between importer currency and exporter currency shocks due to imported inputs, and 3) strategic complementarity matters, where firms adjust their prices in response to competitor prices. I propose a new estimation method for key demand and supply parameters that govern the degree of markup and marginal cost adjustments. Using the estimated parameters, I find that decreasing returns to scale is the dominant factor in generating incomplete pass-through, with variable marginal costs contributing to over 90% of the incomplete pass-through, while variable markups account for less than 10%. Chapter 3 analyzes the determinants of exporter size. Theories of comparative advantage and product differentiation have emphasized productivity and quality differences. This paper shows that incorporating decreasing returns to scale matters for understanding the determinants of exporter size. Exogenous marginal cost differences affect equilibrium quantities but do not necessarily appear in prices since lower exogenous marginal costs (a lower cost curve) are offset by higher endogenous marginal costs (movement along the cost curve). As a result, standard approaches that assume constant returns to scale underestimate the contribution of marginal cost differences and overestimate the contribution of quality differences. Based on bilateral trade flow data between 1997 to 2016 for over 200 countries and 3000 products, I find that standard approaches attribute almost no variation in exporter size to cost differences. In contrast, after incorporating decreasing returns to scale, I estimate that 58% (65%) of the variation in exporter size is attributed to fundamental cost differences in the time series (cross-section). Chapter 4 models and quantifies the dynamic gains from exporting. I develop a dynamic trade model where firms innovate and learn from other firms in the destinations they sell to. The evolution of a country's stock of knowledge can be expressed as a function of export flows and the stocks of knowledge of their trading partners. I find evidence that countries in Asia, North America, and Europe, as well as countries in the top two quartiles of TFP growth were able to better absorb foreign insights than other countries. I evaluate whether there are dynamic gains from trade with two counterfactual exercises. First, I measure the impact of changing trade costs between 1962 and 2000. I find small static gains but zero dynamic gains for the world economy. Second, I quantify the dynamic gains from export-induced foreign knowledge flows by simulating a counterfactual where there is no learning from foreign sources. I find that domestic learning compensates for foreign learning: there are large dynamic gains from exporting when there is no domestic learning and small dynamic gains when there is domestic learning.

In the post World War II era, a group of east Asian exporters achieved rapid economic growth through the exports of labor-intensive manufactures, among which textiles and apparel were the most prominent. Previous research has sought to explain the determinants of international textile and apparel trade through the theory of comparative advantage. The aim of this research was to examine the textile and apparel export patterns and government intervention of South Korea and India, 1955-1985, through comparative historical analysis. The sectoral study proceeded under the premise that a prime determinant of export success is the nature of government intervention. The conceptual framework of the study was based on Liang's (1992) classification of trade regimes. The focus of the study was on the overall policy atmosphere in the two countries examined, which affected the development of the textile/apparel sectors and their trade patterns. The procedure utilized followed the general framework of comparative analysis. The variables chosen were identified by the theory as relevant to policy analysis and were examined to determine whether they provided evidence to support the hypotheses. To judge the overall policy atmosphere of South Korea and India, the effects of various government incentives were analyzed. The study contained descriptions of policy measures and explanations of the reasoning governing their implementation. An evaluation of the effects of each policy, as well as the overall effect of the combined policies, was provided. For both countries, qualitative and quantitative variables associated with import protection and export promotion were analyzed. The cross-country comparison revealed that both South Korea and India displayed high levels of government intervention in industry and trade as related to their textile/apparel sectors. The method of comparative analysis permitted an in-depth view of various individual policies affecting the textile/apparel sectors of both countries. An important finding was that the government intervention in South Korea fostered the growth of its textile/apparel exports, whereas Indian government intervention hampered the growth of Indian textile and apparel exports. The analysis also showed that the South Korean policy package resulted in the textile/apparel industry emerging as the country's largest exporting sector in the late 1960s, a position it retained until the early 1980s. Meanwhile, the Indian policy package nearly stagnated textile/apparel exports from the 1950s onwards, and the country's share of the world market was taken over by South Korea, China, and Taiwan, among others. / Master of Science