Comparative Advantages with Product Complexity and Product Quality

Konferenzbeitrag

We analyze the interplay between product-intrinsic complexity and endogenously chosen product quality in international trade. Our work reveals a novel mecha-nism that can explain a rich set of empirical observations: (1) how specialization within products on quality can equalize comparative advantages across products,(2) why poor countries do not export a broad range of products nonetheless, and (3) why the share of products for which this is the case tends to be decreasing over time. Our theory motivates the use of a censored regression model to esti-mate the link between a country’s GDP per capita and the quality of its exports. Following this empirical strategy, we find a much stronger relationship than when using OLS, in line with our theory.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2016: Demographischer Wandel - Session: International Trade: Theory ; No. C19-V3

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Neoclassical Models of Trade ; Empirical Studies of Trade ; Trade: Other

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Schetter, Ulrich
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft
• (where): Kiel und Hamburg
• (when): 2016

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/145933
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET