The Dynamics of Product Quality and International Competitiveness / Ashoka Mody, Deniz Igan, Stefania Fabrizio.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Mody, Ashoka.

Contributor:

Fabrizio, Stefania.

Igan, Deniz.

International Monetary Fund. European Department.

Series:

IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2007/097

IMF Working Papers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Competition--Europe, Central.

Competition.

Competition--Europe, Eastern.

Foreign exchange rates--Europe, Central.

Foreign exchange rates.

Foreign exchange rates--Europe, Eastern.

Quality of products--Europe, Central.

Quality of products.

Quality of products--Europe, Eastern.

Technological innovations--Europe, Central.

Technological innovations.

Technological innovations--Europe, Eastern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (35 p.)

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Despite the appreciation of the exchange rate, the eight Central and Eastern European countries (the CEE-8) that entered the European Union in May 2004 have achieved a decade of impressive export growth, expanding significantly their shares of world markets. Does this mean that the real exchange rate is irrelevant? If not, what other factors compensated for the appreciation to explain the apparently strong competitiveness of these economies? And will these favorable factors continue to power export growth? This paper places in international context the achievements of the CEE-8 and helps more broadly to identify the determinants of international competitiveness. Building from data at the six-digit level of disaggregation, it shows that the CEE-8 made an impressive shift in product quality and in the technological intensity of exports, and that these shifts associated with the structural transformation were also associated with increased market share. The analysis strongly suggests that, when trading in international markets, countries benefit from higher product quality. However, while the structural transformation achieved was valuable in raising market shares, the easy gains from this process may be over.

Contents:

Contents; I. Introduction; Figures; 1. CEE-8: Market Share and REER, 1994-2004; 2. CEE-8: Moving Up the Technology and Quality Ladder, 1994-2004; II. Theoretical and Empirical Background; III. Explaining Market Shares: An Empirical Framework; 3. GDP Share in World GDP versus Export Share in Global Trade, 1994 and 2004; 4a. Increases in Market Shares Relative to Initial Market Shares, 1994-2004; 4b. Increases in Normalized Market Shares Relative to Initial Normalized Market Shares, 1994-2004; 5. Change in Unit Value Ratio vs Change in High-Tech Share, 1994-2004

6. Change in Unit Value Ratio and High-Tech Share, 1994-2004IV. Base Results; Tables; 1. Base Specification-Dependent Variable: Ratio of End-of-Period Share to Beginning-of-Period Share; 7. UVR Upgrade Requirement to Compensate for 10 percent REER Appreciation; 2. Differences between Developed and Developing Countries-Dependent Variable: Ratio of End-of-Period Share to Beginning-of-Period Share; 3. Non-linearities in the Effects of Quality Upgrading-Dependent Variable: Ratio of End-of-Period Share to Beginning-of-Period Share; V. Identifying Quality Effects Across Product Categories

4. Does Quality Upgrading Reflect Technology Upgrading?-Dependent Variable: Ratio of End-of-Period Share to Beginning-of-Period Share5. Differences between Developing and Industrial Trading Partners-Dependent Variable: Ratio of End-of-Period Share to Beginning-of-Period Share; VI. Conclusions; 6. Scope of Quality Variation Across Product Groups; 8. CEE-8: UVRs According to Potential Quality Differentiation, 1994-2004; 7. Product Groups According to Price-Setting Mechanism-Dependent Variable: Ratio of End-of-Period Share to Beginning-of-Period Share; Appendix; A. The Sample; B. Data Sources

Appendix Tables1. List of Countries; 2. Country Exports as a Share of World Exports; C. Construction of Variables; 3. Partial List of Products in Rauch Classification; 4. Taxonomies; References

Notes:

"April 2007".

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9786613828637

9781462319510

1462319513

9781452747095

1452747091

9781283516181

1283516187

9781451911145

1451911149