The Evolution of Comparative Advantage: Measurement and Welfare Implications /
Levchenko, Andrei A.
The Evolution of Comparative Advantage: Measurement and Welfare Implications / Andrei A. Levchenko, Jing Zhang. - Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011. - 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white); - NBER working paper series no. w16806 . - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w16806. .
February 2011.
We estimate productivities at the sector level for 72 countries and 5 decades, and examine how they evolve over time in both developed and developing countries. In both country groups, comparative advantage has become weaker: productivity grew systematically faster in sectors that were initially at greater comparative disadvantage. These changes have had a significant impact on trade volumes and patterns, and a non-negligible welfare impact. In the counterfactual scenario in which each country's comparative advantage remained the same as in the 1960s, and technology in all sectors grew at the same country-specific average rate, trade volumes would be higher, cross-country export patterns more dissimilar, and intra-industry trade lower than in the data. In this counterfactual scenario, welfare is also 1.6% higher for the median country compared to the baseline. The welfare impact varies greatly across countries, ranging from -1.1% to +4.3% among OECD countries, and from -4.6% to +41.9% among non-OECD countries.
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Mode of access: World Wide Web.
The Evolution of Comparative Advantage: Measurement and Welfare Implications / Andrei A. Levchenko, Jing Zhang. - Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011. - 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white); - NBER working paper series no. w16806 . - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w16806. .
February 2011.
We estimate productivities at the sector level for 72 countries and 5 decades, and examine how they evolve over time in both developed and developing countries. In both country groups, comparative advantage has become weaker: productivity grew systematically faster in sectors that were initially at greater comparative disadvantage. These changes have had a significant impact on trade volumes and patterns, and a non-negligible welfare impact. In the counterfactual scenario in which each country's comparative advantage remained the same as in the 1960s, and technology in all sectors grew at the same country-specific average rate, trade volumes would be higher, cross-country export patterns more dissimilar, and intra-industry trade lower than in the data. In this counterfactual scenario, welfare is also 1.6% higher for the median country compared to the baseline. The welfare impact varies greatly across countries, ranging from -1.1% to +4.3% among OECD countries, and from -4.6% to +41.9% among non-OECD countries.
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.