Potential Switchovers in Comparative Advantage: Patterns of Industrial Convergence

Arbeitspapier

Although there exists a vast literature on convergence and divergence of income levels across countries or regions at the aggregate level, there is only little work on convergence and / or divergence processes of productivity and wage levels at the more disaggregated industrial level. These are especially important in the context of international trade as these determine the dynamics of comparative advantages and the resulting trade structures between developing and developed countries. In the first theoretical part, we discuss some theoretical aspects of uneven sectoral productivity and wage catching-up processes and their links to dynamic comparative advantages and trade structures. In the second part we present an econometric study of catching-up of wages, productivity, and labour unit costs. The analysis is conducted at the industrial level (ISIC 3-digit) over the period 1965-1995 for a set of catching-up economies compared to more advanced countries.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: wiiw Working Paper ; No. 14

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Empirical Studies of Trade ; Economic Development: General ; Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology ; Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights: General ; One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
• Subject: catching-up ; comparative advantages ; unit labour costs ; convergence patterns ; industrial development

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Landesmann, Michael ; Stehrer, Robert
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw)
• (where): Vienna
• (when): 2000

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/203879
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET