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International differences in production techniques: Implications for the factor content of trade

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  • Nishioka, Shuichiro

Abstract

This paper examines how production techniques differ across countries, factors, and industries and considers its implications for previous empirical evidence on the Vanek prediction. I find that production techniques differ substantially across countries and factors, but differ much less across industries within a country. Davis and Weinstein (2001) argue that modeling cross-industry differences (multiple-cone specialization) improves the fit of the Vanek prediction; however, their test statistics are unchanged when one restricts techniques to be identical across industries within a country. Thus, the bulk of world factor content of trade does not arise from specialization.

Suggested Citation

  • Nishioka, Shuichiro, 2012. "International differences in production techniques: Implications for the factor content of trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 98-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:inecon:v:87:y:2012:i:1:p:98-104
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2011.11.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Elhanan Helpman, 1999. "The Structure of Foreign Trade," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 121-144, Spring.
    2. Fadinger, Harald, 2011. "Productivity differences in an interdependent world," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 221-232, July.
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    4. Donald R. Davis & David E. Weinstein, 2001. "An Account of Global Factor Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1423-1453, December.
    5. Leamer, Edward E, 1980. "The Leontief Paradox, Reconsidered," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(3), pages 495-503, June.
    6. Patrick J. Conway, 2002. "The Case of the Missing Trade and Other Mysteries: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 394-404, March.
    7. Trefler, Daniel & Zhu, Susan Chun, 2010. "The structure of factor content predictions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 195-207, November.
    8. Peter K. Schott, 2004. "Across-Product Versus Within-Product Specialization in International Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(2), pages 647-678.
    9. Keith E. Maskus & Shuichiro Nishioka, 2009. "Development‐related biases in factor productivities and the HOV model of trade," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 519-553, May.
    10. Trefler, Daniel, 1993. "International Factor Price Differences: Leontief Was Right!," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(6), pages 961-987, December.
    11. Francesco Caselli & James Feyrer, 2007. "The Marginal Product of Capital," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 535-568.
    12. Trefler, Daniel, 1995. "The Case of the Missing Trade and Other Mysteries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1029-1046, December.
    13. Bowen, Harry P & Leamer, Edward E & Sveikauskas, Leo, 1987. "Multicountry, Multifactor Tests of the Factor Abundance Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 791-809, December.
    14. Maskus, Keith E., 1985. "A test of the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek theorem: The Leontief commonplace," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3-4), pages 201-212, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tadashi Ito & Lorenzo Rotunno & Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2017. "Heckscher–Ohlin: Evidence from Virtual Trade in Value Added," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 427-446, August.
    2. James Cassing & Shuichiro Nishioka, 2015. "Per Capita Income and the Mystery of Missing Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 606-619, August.
    3. Morrow, Peter M. & Trefler, Daniel, 2022. "How do endowments determine trade? quantifying the output mix, factor price, and skill-biased technology channels," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Peter M. Morrow & Daniel Trefler, 2017. "Endowments, Skill-Biased Technology, and Factor Prices: A Unified Approach to Trade," NBER Working Papers 24078, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Robert Stehrer, 2014. "Does the Home Bias Explain Missing Trade in Factors?," wiiw Working Papers 110, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    6. Wenya Cheng & John Morrow, 2018. "Firm Productivity Differences From Factor Markets," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(1), pages 126-171, March.
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    8. Assaf Zimring, 2019. "Testing the Heckscher–Ohlin–Vanek theory with a natural experiment," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(1), pages 58-92, February.
    9. Nishioka, Shuichiro, 2013. "R&D, trade in intermediate inputs, and the comparative advantage of advanced countries," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 96-110.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heckscher–Ohlin; Specialization across industries; Production technique;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    Statistics

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