IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i10p3508-d172936.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamic Change in the Export Technology Structure of China’s Environmental Goods and Its International Comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Xuping Cao

    (School of Economics and Management, Changshu Institute of Technology, Changshu 215500, China
    School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USA
    Suzhou Agricultural Modernization Research Center, Changshu 215500, China)

  • Nancy Hanson-Rasmussen

    (School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USA)

Abstract

Growing natural disaster intensity, ocean warming, air quality alerts, and a desire to emphasize sustainable practice has prompted countries to payincreased attention to the development of environmental industries. This has led to trade in environmental goods (EGs) and a need for export technology research. The purpose of this paper is to measure the evolution of the technological structure of China’s export EGs and its position in the international industrial value chain. Based on the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) EGs list and United Nations Comtrade (COMTRADE) data, this study uses the technical complexity index to empirically calculate the technology structure and level changes of China’s EGs exports from 2007 to 2016. The results are then compared with those of the Asia-Pacific region and the world’s major exporters of EGs. Additionally, this study proposes a method called “Equalization Technology Classification” that divides all EGs into five technical levels: high, medium-high, medium, medium-low, and low. The research finds that (1) China’s EGs exports are predominately of medium-low technical complexity, and while the proportion of exported goods with high technical complexity is very low, the export technology structure is constantly being optimized. (2) Compared with Singapore, the United States, and the European Union, the overall technical level of China’s exported EGs is lagging behind. (3) The overall technical level of exported EGs in major exporting countries is rapidly increasing but is especially impressive in South Korea and China, where growth ranks first and second in the world, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuping Cao & Nancy Hanson-Rasmussen, 2018. "Dynamic Change in the Export Technology Structure of China’s Environmental Goods and Its International Comparison," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3508-:d:172936
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3508/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3508/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sanjaya Lall (QEH), John Weiss and Jinkang Zhang, "undated". "The 'Sophistication' Of Exports: A New Measure Of Product Characteristics," QEH Working Papers qehwps123, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    2. Ricardo Hausmann & Jason Hwang & Dani Rodrik, 2007. "What you export matters," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Wan, Rui & Nakada, Minoru & Takarada, Yasuhiro, 2018. "Trade liberalization in environmental goods," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 44-66.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jingjing Wang & Yan Zhang & Zeeshan Mustafa & Maurizio Canavari, 2022. "Changes in Agri-Food Export Competitiveness Based on the Sophistication Analysis: The Case of Xinjiang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Shiguang Peng & Le Wang, 2022. "A Survival Analysis of China’s Trade of Environmental Goods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Pengfei Wang & Nguepi Tsafack Elvis & Hua Cheng, 2024. "Structural Characteristics and Evolution of the Dual Network of Patent Technology Collaboration and Innovation in China–Japan–ROK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Suisui Chen & Xintian Liu & Shuhong Wang & Peng Wang, 2023. "Regional Corruption, Foreign Trade, and Environmental Pollution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, January.

    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. Evžen Kočenda & Karen Poghosyan, 2018. "Export Sophistication: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(12), pages 2799-2814, September.
    2. Mario Cimoli & Wellington Pereira & Gabriel Porcile & Fábio Scatolin, 2011. "Structural change, technology, and economic growth: Brazil and the CIBS in a comparative perspective," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 25-47, April.
    3. Naoki Sekiguchi, 2017. "Trade specialisation patterns in major steelmaking economies: the role of advanced economies and the implications for rapid growth in emerging market and developing economies in the global steel marke," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 30(3), pages 207-227, October.
    4. Francisco Rebelo & Ester Gomes da Silva, 2013. "Export variety, technological content and economic performance: The case of Portugal," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1310, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2013.
    5. Foster-McGregor, Neil & Kaulich, Florian & Stehrer, Robert, 2015. "Global Value Chains in Africa," MERIT Working Papers 2015-024, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    6. Rehman, Faheem Ur & Islam, Md. Monirul & Raza, Syed Ali, 2023. "Does disaggregate energy consumption matter to export sophistication and diversification in OECD countries? A robust panel model analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 274-284.
    7. Mishra, Saurabh & Lundstrom, Susanna & Anand, Rahul, 2011. "Service export sophistication and economic growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5606, The World Bank.
    8. Naoki Sekiguchi, 2019. "Steel trade structure and the balance of steelmaking technologies in non-OECD countries: the implications for catch-up path," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 32(3), pages 257-285, November.
    9. Sweet, Cassandra & Eterovic, Dalibor, 2019. "Do patent rights matter? 40 years of innovation, complexity and productivity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 78-93.
    10. Matthias Firgo & Fabian Gabelberger & Andreas Reinstaller & Yvonne Wolfmayr, 2024. "Assessing Regional Production Potential to Strengthen the Security of Supply in Strategic Products," WIFO Working Papers 670, WIFO.
    11. Michele Peruzzi & Alessio Terzi, 2018. "Growth Accelerations Strategies," Growth Lab Working Papers 112, Harvard's Growth Lab.
    12. Jarreau, Joachim & Poncet, Sandra, 2012. "Export sophistication and economic growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 281-292.
    13. Dennis, Allen & Shepherd, Ben, 2007. "Trade costs, barriers to entry, and export diversification in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4368, The World Bank.
    14. Robert Z. Lawrence & Lawrence Edward, 2010. "Do Developed and Developing Countries Compete Head to Head in High Tech?," Working Paper Series WP10-8, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    15. International Monetary Fund, 2015. "Central and Eastern Europe: New Member States (NMS) Policy Forum, 2014, Selected Issues Paper," IMF Staff Country Reports 2015/098, International Monetary Fund.
    16. Pedro Moncarz & Marcelo Olarreaga & Marcel Vaillant, 2016. "Regionalism as Industrial Policy: Evidence from MERCOSUR," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 359-373, February.
    17. Bahar, Dany & Rosenow, Samuel & Stein, Ernesto & Wagner, Rodrigo, 2019. "Export take-offs and acceleration: Unpacking cross-sector linkages in the evolution of comparative advantage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 48-60.
    18. Ronald V Kalafsky & William Graves, 2023. "Global connections from the second-tier: The trade performance of smaller southern US cities," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 38(5), pages 443-459, August.
    19. Florent Silve & Alexander Plekhanov, 2018. "Institutions, innovation and growth : Evidence from industry data," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(3), pages 335-362, July.
    20. Lord, Montague, 2015. "Regional Economic Integration in Central Asia and South Asia," MPRA Paper 66436, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3508-:d:172936. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.