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Trade and Sectoral Productivity

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  • Harald Fadinger
  • Pablo Fleiss

Abstract

Even though differences in sectoral total factor productivity are at the heart of Ricardian trade theory and many models of growth and development, very little is known about their size and their form. In this paper we try to fill this gap by using a Hybrid-Ricardo-Heckscher-Ohlin trade model and bilateral sectoral trade data to overcome the data problem that has limited previous studies, which have used input and output data to back out productivities, to a small number of OECD economies. We provide a comparable set of sectoral productivities for 24 manufacturing sectors and more than sixty countries at all stages of development. Our results show that TFP differences in manufacturing sectors between rich and poor countries are substantial and far more pronounced in skill and R&D intensive sectors. We also apply our productivity estimates to test theories on development that have implications for the patterns of sectoral productivities across countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Harald Fadinger & Pablo Fleiss, 2008. "Trade and Sectoral Productivity," Working Papers ECARES 2008_005, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:eca:wpaper:2008_005
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    Cited by:

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    2. Patrizio Pagano & Massimo Sbracia & Andrea Finicelli, 2008. "Trade-revealed TFP," 2008 Meeting Papers 717, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. di Mauro, Filippo & Del Gatto, Massimo & Gruber, Joseph & Mandel, Benjamin, 2012. "The structural determinants of the US competitiveness in the last decades: a "trade-revealing" analysis," Working Paper Series 1443, European Central Bank.
    4. repec:lic:licosd:20008 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Gordon H. Hanson & Nelson Lind & Marc-Andreas Muendler, 2015. "The Dynamics of Comparative Advantage," CESifo Working Paper Series 5622, CESifo.
    6. Tero Kuusi, 2015. "The dynamics of ICT adaptation and the productivity gaps across advanced nations," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 175-188, October.
    7. Karine Constant & Marion Davin, 2019. "Unequal Vulnerability to Climate Change and the Transmission of Adverse Effects Through International Trade," Post-Print hal-04215353, HAL.
    8. Regolo, Julie, 2013. "Export diversification: How much does the choice of the trading partner matter?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 329-342.
    9. Karine Constant & Marion Davin, 2019. "Unequal Vulnerability to Climate Change and the Transmission of Adverse Effects Through International Trade," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(2), pages 727-759, October.
    10. Carmen D. Álvarez‐Albelo & Antonio Manresa & Mònica Pigem‐Vigo, 2018. "Growing through trade in intermediate goods: the role of foreign growth and domestic tariffs," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(4), pages 414-436, September.
    11. Xian-Liang Tian, 2017. "Estimating sectoral product quality under quality heterogeneity," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 153(1), pages 137-176, February.
    12. Carmen D. Álvarez-Albelo & Antonio Manresa & Monica Pigem-Vigo, 2015. "Growing through trade: the role of foreign growth and domestic tariffs," Working Papers XREAP2015-04, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Nov 2015.
    13. Andrey A. Gnidchenko & Vladimir A. Salnikov, 2015. "Net Comparative Advantage Index: Overcoming the Drawbacks of the Existing Indices," HSE Working papers WP BRP 119/EC/2015, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    14. Frank Pothen & Edward J. Balistreri, 2016. "Decomposing the Measure of Ignorance: TFP and Fundamental Productivity in the World Economy," EcoMod2016 9650, EcoMod.
    15. Massimo Del Gatto & Filippo di Mauro & Joseph W. Gruber & Benjamin R. Mandel, 2011. "The revealed competitiveness of U.S. exports," International Finance Discussion Papers 1026, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    16. Turnbull, Christopher & Sun, Sizhong & Anwar, Sajid, 2016. "Trade liberalisation, inward FDI and productivity within Australia’s manufacturing sector," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 41-51.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sectoral Productivity Differences; Trade and Production Data; Ricardo; Heckscher-Ohlin; Comparative Advantage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade
    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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