Search results for "Comparative Advantage"
showing 10 items of 27 documents
Trade Liberalization, Female Labor Force Participation and Economic Growth
2008
This research argues that the interaction between international trade and female labor force participation has played a significant role in the process of development. The main concern of our study is to show how differences in per household capital stocks, via international specialization, affect household choice of female labor force participation and fertility, and how these decisions, in turn, feed back and affect the accumulation of capital. Interestingly, and in contrast to conventional wisdom, our theory suggests that specialization in female's comparative advantage sectors expands these sectors but hinders female labor force participation, while specialization in male's comparative …
The determinants of industrial location in Spain, 1856–1929
2012
Abstract During the 19th century, the Spanish economy went through the early stages of the industrialisation process. This process developed in parallel to the growing market integration of goods and factors as a result of the liberal reforms and the construction of the railway network, with the subsequent fall in transport costs. In that period, there were major changes in the pattern of industrial location across Spain, with an increasing spatial concentration of industrial activities between the 1850s and the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) and a deeper regional specialisation. What were the forces behind these changes? On the theoretical side, the Heckscher–Ohlin model suggests that the spa…
A Scholar in Action in Interwar America. John H. Williams' Contributions to Trade Theory and International Monetary Reform
2004
In this paper we analyse the scientific contributions of Harvard economist John H. Williams as international trade theorist and monetary reformer together with his activities as a Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In the first 2 Sections we first present a succinct overview of Williams' main contributions to international trade theory and to the interwar debate on the reform of the international monetary system. Particular attention will be devoted to his early academic writings which contained different critical arguments against the two main tenets of classical international economics: the Ricardian theory of comparative advantages and the gold standard. These critic…
Cost uncertainty and trade liberalization in international oligopoly
1998
Abstract Trade liberalization has been shown to be unfavourable for firms of at least one country for the homogeneous goods case in an environment of certainty. We show that, in the presence of private cost information and for ex ante identical firms, oligopolistic firms will prefer to operate under free trade rather than under autarky in homogeneous goods industries provided there exists a certain degree of firms' heterogeneity and a sufficiently large amount of uncertainty. For the particular case of symmetry both in demand and industry sizes, the firms of at least one country prefer to operate under autarky rather than under free trade.
Measuring International Competitiveness of Romania by Using Porter's Diamond and Revealed Comparative Advantage
2013
Abstract International competitiveness generate a number of challenges because creates profitability for companies, welfare for citizens, sustainable prosperity for the economy as long as it is perceived as a constructive concept. The aim of present paper is to identify the international competitiveness of Romania by analyze the competitive advantage and disadvantage according to Porter‘s Diamond, on one hand, and by calculate revealed comparative advantage according to Balasa, on the other hand. The results show that Romanian has more competitive disadvantage than competitive advantage, even if by comparison with European Union, Romania has some revealed comparative advantage.
Trade in Central and Eastern European countries ten years after their EU accession — Is there convergence?
2015
The paper focuses on the effects of EU’s Eastern Enlargement of 2004 on trade convergence within the EU and among the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE-8). Using sigma-convergence approach, it finds evidence of convergence of exports and imports per capita as well as of productivity levels associated with the member states’ export baskets. Convergence of territorial and commodity structures of trade has not occurred; conversely, divergence has been observed, leading to the possible conclusion that multinational companies have adjusted their production structure in facilities across the EU to achieve higher economies of scale. Correlation analysis shows that revealed com…
Dynamics of the Comparative Advantages in Romanian Exports Compared to the European Union
2013
Abstract The main objective of this paper is to prove if the dynamics of the comparative advantages in Romania in the period of time 2000- 2011 has any convergence potential and if the specialization of production capacities has suffered modifications. For the study of the comparative advantage dynamics in Romanian exports compared to the European Union in the period of time 2000-2011, we analysed the modifications in the structure of the sections included in the Combined Nomenclature for national exports and we calculeted the Balassa and the Dalum indexes. In order to emphasize the convergence and the stability in time of the export structure we used the econometric tools specific to the r…
Informal employment in developing countries
2012
There is an ongoing debate among researchers and policy makers, whether informal sector employment is a result of competitive market forces or labor market segmentation. More recently it has been argued that none of the two theories sufficiently explains informal employment, but that the informal sector shows a heterogenous structure. For some workers the informal sector is an attractive employment opportunity, whereas for others – rationed out of the formal sector – the informal sector is a strategy of last resort. To test the empirical relevance of this hypothesis we formulate an econometric model which allows for several unobserved segments within the informal sector and apply it to the …
Motives, Roles, Effectiveness and the Future of the EU as an International Mediator
2018
AbstractThis article concludes this special issue on the European Union as international mediator that set out to advance our theoretical and empirical knowledge aboutEUmediation. Providing a comprehensive reflection ofEUmediation activities and the diverse settings where they take place, this concluding article identifies some connection points between the articles and discusses their findings on the motives/drivers, roles/strategies, effectiveness and institutional capacities ofEUmediation. It discusses the implications of these findings for policymaking, focusing on the conditions forEUmediation effectiveness, the advantages of the multi-layered nature ofEUmediation and the need for flex…
Dark Spots in Trade Theory: Early Testing Attempts
2020
The beginnings of the economic theory correspond to philosophers’ attempts to explain why and how do countries trade with each other. Yet even more puzzling was the question how should countries trade? It is no surprise that despite the formidable developments of the theory in the last 200 years plus, there still are dark spots in the economics of trade. Globalization has rendered the issue even murkier. Beside the fact that international trade cannot be insulated from other economic domains, which makes it inadequate for experiments, but even testing itself is cumbersome. Only, evidence on such a complex field as international trade is by no means easy to come by.