IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v37y2019i2p389-406.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Determines Trade Between China And India During The Recession Of 2008–2012?

Author

Listed:
  • Jianhong Zhang
  • Désirée van Gorp
  • Haico Ebbers

Abstract

Despite the international status of China and India rising dramatically in the previous decades, trade between the two countries did not grow accordingly. This paper investigates the determinants of the bilateral trade performance during the period of 2008–2012 from two perspectives: comparative advantage and trade protection. Two cases, Chinese exports to India, and Indian exports to China, are analyzed by using product‐level data. The results suggest that (1) the law of comparative advantage and trade protection explain the pattern of China–India trade, while (2) in a time of crisis, the adverse forces become prominent which explains the declining trend of the bilateral trade. (JEL F13, F14)

Suggested Citation

  • Jianhong Zhang & Désirée van Gorp & Haico Ebbers, 2019. "What Determines Trade Between China And India During The Recession Of 2008–2012?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(2), pages 389-406, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:37:y:2019:i:2:p:389-406
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12282
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12282
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/coep.12282?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Janet Ceglowski & Stephen S. Golub, 2012. "Does China Still Have a Labor Cost Advantage?," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 1-30, August.
    2. M. Shahe Emran & Forhad Shilpi, 2010. "Estimating an Import Demand Function in Developing Countries: A Structural Econometric Approach with Applications to India and Sri Lanka," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 307-319, May.
    3. Nikitas Pittis, 1999. "Efficient Estimation Of Cointegrating Vectors and Testing for Causality in Vector Autoregressions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 1-35, February.
    4. Christian Henn & Brad McDonald, 2014. "Crisis Protectionism: The Observed Trade Impact," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 62(1), pages 77-118, April.
    5. Takeshi Inoue, 2014. "An Empirical Analysis of the Aggregate Export Demand Function in Post-Liberalization India," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(1), pages 79-88, April.
    6. Kaplinsky, Raphael & Messner, Dirk, 2008. "Introduction: The Impact of Asian Drivers on the Developing World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 197-209, February.
    7. Mahvash Saeed Qureshi & Guanghua Wan, 2008. "Trade Expansion of China and India: Threat or Opportunity?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(10), pages 1327-1350, October.
    8. Morris Goldstein & Mohsin S. Khan, 2017. "Income and Price Effects in Foreign Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: TRADE CURRENCIES AND FINANCE, chapter 1, pages 3-81, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Wu, Yanrui & Zhou, Zhangyue, 2006. "Changing bilateral trade between China and India," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 509-518, June.
    10. Hongbin Li & Lei Li & Binzhen Wu & Yanyan Xiong, 2012. "The End of Cheap Chinese Labor," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 57-74, Fall.
    11. Hylke Vandenbussche & Christian Viegelahn, 2013. "The Trade Impact of Indian Antidumping Measures against China: Evidence from Monthly Data," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 48(1), pages 1-21, February.
    12. Anthony J. Venables, 2003. "Winners and losers from regional integration agreements," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(490), pages 747-761, October.
    13. Peter K. Schott, 2008. "The relative sophistication of Chinese exports [‘Manufacturing Earnings and Compensation in China’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 23(53), pages 6-49.
    14. Murphy, Kevin M. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1997. "Quality and trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Krugman, Paul, 1980. "Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(5), pages 950-959, December.
    16. Sushanta Mallick & Helena Marques, 2008. "Passthrough of Exchange Rate and Tariffs into Import Prices of India: Currency Depreciation versus Import Liberalization," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 765-782, September.
    17. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    18. Kevin Honglin Zhang, 2015. "What Drives Export Competitiveness? The Role Of Fdi In Chinese Manufacturing," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(3), pages 499-512, July.
    19. Robert E. Baldwin, 1982. "The Political Economy of Protectionism," NBER Chapters, in: Import Competition and Response, pages 263-292, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. René Belderbos & Jianglei Zou, 2006. "Foreign Investment, Divestment and Relocation by Japanese Electronics Firms in East Asia," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 1-27, March.
    21. Pierluigi Montalbano & Silvia Nenci, 2014. "The Trade Competitiveness of Southern Emerging Economies: A Multidimensional Approach Through Cluster Analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 783-810, June.
    22. Ian Coxhead & Sisira Jayasuriya, 2010. "China, India and the Commodity Boom: Economic and Environmental Implications for Low‐income Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 525-551, April.
    23. Sujinda Chemsripong & Frank W. Agbola & Julie E. Lee, 2009. "Regional Integration And Intra-Industry Trade In Manufactures Between Thailand And Other Apec Countries," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 54(01), pages 135-148.
    24. Hiau Looi Kee & Cristina Neagu & Alessandro Nicita, 2013. "Is Protectionism on the Rise? Assessing National Trade Policies during the Crisis of 2008," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 342-346, March.
    25. Morrow, Peter M., 2010. "Ricardian-Heckscher-Ohlin comparative advantage: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 137-151, November.
    26. Guobing Shen & Xiaolan Fu, 2014. "The Trade Effects of US Anti-dumping Actions against China Post-WTO Entry," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 86-105, January.
    27. Silgoner, Maria & Steiner, Katharina & Wörz, Julia & Schitter, Christian, 2015. "Fishing in the same pool: Export strengths and competitiveness of China and Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe at the EU-15 market," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 68-83.
    28. Nancy L. Stokey, 1991. "The Volume and Composition of Trade Between Rich and Poor Countries," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(1), pages 63-80.
    29. Flam, Harry & Helpman, Elhanan, 1987. "Vertical Product Differentiation and North-South Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 810-822, December.
    30. David Greenaway, 1987. "Intra‐Industry Trade, Intra‐Firm Trade and European Integration: Evidence, Gains and Policy Aspects," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 153-172, December.
    31. G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), 1995. "Handbook of International Economics," Handbook of International Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    32. Khuong M. Vu, 2015. "Effects Of China And India On Manufactured Exports Of The G7 Economies," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(2), pages 265-278, April.
    33. Jianhong Zhang & Chaohong Zhou & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Haico Ebbers, 2013. "What does the Chinese market need? An empirical study of the determinants of Chinese imports, 1996--2008," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 402-420, July.
    34. Kathryn G. Marshall, 2011. "The factor content of Chinese trade," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 769-787, September.
    35. Michaely, Michael, 1996. "Trade preferential agreements in Latin America : an ex-ante assessment," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1583, The World Bank.
    36. Bin Xu, 2006. "Infant Industry And Political Economy Of Trade Protection," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 363-378, October.
    37. Krugman, Paul R., 1979. "Increasing returns, monopolistic competition, and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 469-479, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthias Helble & Toshihiro Okubo, 2008. "Heterogeneous Quality Firms and Trade Costs," Discussion Paper Series 220, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    2. Veerle Miranda & Marialuz Moreno Badia & Ilke Van Beveren, 2012. "Globalization drives strategic product switching," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 148(1), pages 45-72, April.
    3. Schetter, Ulrich, 2016. "Comparative Advantages with Product Complexity and Product Quality," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145933, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Gao, Yue & Whalley, John & Ren, Yonglei, 2014. "Decomposing China's export growth into extensive margin, export quality and quantity effects," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 19-26.
    5. Yo Chul Choi & David Hummels & Chong Xiang, 2006. "Explaining Import Variety and Quality: The Role of the Income Distribution," NBER Working Papers 12531, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Pablo Fajgelbaum & Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 2011. "Income Distribution, Product Quality, and International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(4), pages 721-765.
    7. Horácio Faustino & Nuno Leitão, 2009. "Intra-industry trade and labor costs: The smooth adjustment hypothesis," Working Papers Department of Economics 2009/17, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    8. Behrens, Kristian & Murata, Yasusada, 2012. "Globalization and individual gains from trade," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(8), pages 703-720.
    9. Kunal Dasgupta & Jordi Mondria, 2015. "Gains from Trade under Quality Uncertainty," Working Papers tecipa-526, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    10. Cícero, Vinicius Curti & Lima, Gilberto Tadeu, 2023. "Functional distribution of income as a determinant of importing behavior: An empirical analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 393-405.
    11. Horácio Faustino & Nuno Leitão, 2007. "Intra-Industry Trade: A Static and Dynamic Panel Data Analysis," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 13(3), pages 313-333, August.
    12. Kozo Kiyota, 2010. "Are US Exports Different from China’s Exports? Evidence from Japan’s Imports," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(10), pages 1302-1324, October.
    13. Faruk Aydin & Hulya Saygili & Mesut Saygili & Gokhan Yilmaz, 2010. "Dis Ticarette Kuresel Egilimler ve Turkiye Ekonomisi," Working Papers 1001, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.
    14. Roberto Veneziani & Luca Zamparelli & Omar S. Dahi & Firat Demir, 2017. "South–South And North–South Economic Exchanges: Does It Matter Who Is Exchanging What And With Whom?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1449-1486, December.
    15. repec:kap:iaecre:v:13:y:2007:i:3:p:313-333 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Bottega, Ana & Romero, João P., 2021. "Innovation, export performance and trade elasticities across different sectors," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 174-184.
    17. J. Hanna & L. L鶩 & S. Petit, 2015. "Intra-tourism trade, income distribution and tourism endowment: an econometric investigation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(21), pages 2184-2200, May.
    18. Jaimovich, Esteban & Merella, Vincenzo, 2015. "Love for quality, comparative advantage, and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 376-391.
    19. Fugazza, Marco & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2006. "Can South-South trade Liberalisation Stimulate North-South Trade ?," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 21, pages 234-253.
    20. Kim, Daisoon, 2021. "Economies of scale and international business cycles," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    21. Rasmusen, Eric, 2017. "A model of trust in quality and North–South trade," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 159-170.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:37:y:2019:i:2:p:389-406. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.