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Productivity effects of trade in natural resources - comparison with mechanisms of technological specialisation

Author

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  • Zuzanna Zarach

    (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland)

  • Aleksandra Parteka

    (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland)

Abstract

This paper compares two alternative growth paths, assessing the effects on productivity of specialisation in natural resources (NR) and in technologically advanced products. The empirical analysis exploits product-level export data for 109 developing and 51 developed economies over the period 1996-2018. We document two distinct types of specialisation, based on exports either of natural resources or of technological products, and compare their role in productivity growth by GMM estimation of a conditional convergence model. In general, reliance on natural resource exports slows growth, but we find that the type of resources exported is important: fuel exports hamper growth while specialisation in metals enhances the catch-up in productivity. Technological specialisation, especially in products typical of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, reinforces productivity growth but does not affect the relationship between resources and productivity growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Zuzanna Zarach & Aleksandra Parteka, 2022. "Productivity effects of trade in natural resources - comparison with mechanisms of technological specialisation," GUT FME Working Paper Series A 68, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdansk University of Technology, revised Sep 2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:gdk:wpaper:68
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    natural resources; technology; specialisation; productivity growth; convergence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • Q32 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development

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