Tourism and Empirical Applications of International Trade Theory: A Multi-Country Analysis

This paper examines the application of quantitative techniques to further our understanding of international trade theory with respect to tourism flows. The analyses are based on the construction of Balassa and Grubel-Lloyd Indices, as well as the construction of dynamic indices. The results of the analyses suggest that international trade theory has much to offer the study of international tourism flows. Many countries seem to specialize as both exporters and importers of tourism services. The analyses also explore the theoretical assertion that intra-industry trade is likely to be of importance in understanding international tourism flows

Tourism and Empirical Applications of International Trade Theory: A Multi-Country Analysis

This paper examines the application of quantitative techniques to further our understanding of international trade theory with respect to tourism flows. The analyses are based on the construction of Balassa and Grubel-Lloyd Indices, as well as the construction of dynamic indices. The results of the analyses suggest that international trade theory has much to offer the study of international tourism flows. Many countries seem to specialize as both exporters and importers of tourism services. The analyses also explore the theoretical assertion that intra-industry trade is likely to be of importance in understanding international tourism flows

HOW COMPETITIVE IS AGRIBUSINESS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN FOOD COMMODITY CHAIN?

The competitiveness of sixteen selected food commodity chains in South Africa was calculated using the Revealed Comparative Advantage method of Balassa. The majority of commodity chains are marginally competitive. Except for the maize, pineapple, and apple chains, the competitiveness index generally decreases when moving from primary to processed products. This implies that benification or "value adding" opportunities in South Africa are restricted. To compete in a global economy strategies should be followed that improve the competitiveness of the whole food supply chain. It is i.e. not good enough for farmers to be able to compete globally at farm gate level, whilst the locally processed commodities that is sold to the consumer is not competitive in the world market.Agribusiness,

The Indian Economy Since Liberalisation: the Structure and Composition of Exports and Industrial Transformation (1980 – 2000)

This paper assesses empirically structural change in the Indian manufacturing based export sector, based on an analysis of 143 industries / product groupings (mainly manufacturing industries). Trade indices such as Balassa´s revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index, and other variants commonly employed in the literature are used in our analysis. Regression analysis on the RSCA indices is used to further analyse structural change. Thereafter, the stability of the RCA indices is examined, as well as the process of their intertemporal evolution. Three technology categories (high technology, medium technology and low technology) are examined individually and SITC product codes are used as proxies for export industries, in order to look at industry movements within each of these groups. This analysis enables us to assess the export performance of Indian industries in the selected product-industry groupings in detail and evaluate the prospects for growth of particular Indian industrial groupings

The effect of internationalisation on the beef and maize sub-sectors: The relevance of revealed comparative advantage measures

According to the RCA and RCA# the beef sub-sector in South Africa has shown a revealed comparative disadvantage for 17 out of the 22 years to 2002, while the maize sub-sector showed a revealed comparative advantage for 18 out of the same 22 years. However, this article argues that these results do not show the real state of competitiveness that exists in these sub-sectors, mainly because RCA measures should not be used to make definitive conclusions whether an industry, sector or sub-sector is competitive, nor whether it uses scare resources efficiently. RCA measures explain in more accurate ways, relative to a simple analysis of export trends, how a country features in the context of world trade. Hence, one possible application of RCA measures is to deduce the impact of changes in trade policies on an industry, sector or sub-sector. Cognisance should also be taken that the RCA measures fail to distinguish between a region's factor endowments. Finally, it appears as if both the beef and maize sub-sectors have adjusted favourably since the implementation of the Marrakech agreement and subsequent deregulation of the domestic market. Favourably in this context means that both sub-sectors appear to have discounted the changing trade and regulatory environments into their respective supply chains. The question of how competitive these sub-sectors are relative to their international counterparts however remains unanswered, and will require a more in-depth analysis of the complete chains for these sub-sectors.International Relations/Trade,

Multinational firms, market integration and trade structure: what remains of the standard goods hypothesis?.

In extending traditional empirical trade models with multinational firms, this paper shows the effect of transferring firm specific technology on the trade structure of host countries. For Belgium, a small open economy with a large presence of multinational firms, this effect is of crucial importance and by neglecting it previous studies appeared to have produced biased results. The results show how the large multinational presence induced by the European integration has shifted Belgium's trade structure towards differentiated products, making the standard goods hypothesis less appropriate to describe the trade composition of small open economies characterized by a large presence of multinational firms.Integration; Structure; Trade;

TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND THE IMPACT ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN AGRO-FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS

Industrial Organization, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

COMPETING AT THE "CUTTING EDGE": OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRIBUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS AND CO-OPERATION IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN REGION

What are the opportunities for agricultural business, trade and co-operation in Southern Africa and, in particular, South Africa and Zimbabwe - two of the most significant economies in the SADC region? The competitiveness status of agribusiness - from a global viewpoint - in sixteen food and fibre supply chains in Zimbabwe and South Africa is determined in this study using the Revealed Comparative Advantage method of Balassa. Based on this status, there is potential in certain agro-food chains for supply chain integration and cooperation between agribusinesses in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Such partnerships will improve competitiveness and will allow agribusinesses to compete at the "cutting edge" in the global environment.Agribusiness,

Botswana’s revealed comparative advantage

Analysis of Botswana’s competitiveness in world trade has been presented based on indices of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) calculated for the period 1999 and 2004. Results show that Botswana has RCA in diamonds, copper matte, and meat of bovine animals, among other products. Changes in values of RCA over time reinforce the dynamic nature of comparative advantage. The study established that the country gained comparative specialization in the following products: sugar products; copper ores and concentrates, in which it previously had comparative disadvantage. On the downward side, the country lost specialization in products such as coal gas and water gas.Africa, Botswana, exports, revealed comparative advantage, revealed comparative disadvantage

ANALYSING THE DEGREE OF SPECIALIZATION IN ROMANIA’S SERVICES TRADE

This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of trade specialization in Romania. In particular, the work examines the changes in trade patterns at sectoral level. In order to distinguish between the two types of trade specialization (intersectoral specialization and intra-sectoral trade (IST)) the empirical work was carried out using the Balassa index and the Grubel-Lloyd index. The former examines the degree of inter-sectoral specialization by sector; the latter considers the level of trade specialization between sectors. The empirical results support both the new trade theory, which predicts an increasing level of intra-sectoral trade with liberalization processes, and the new strand of trade theory, which, distinguishing between horizontal and vertical IST, suggests a co-existence between inter- and intra-sectoral trade.services; growth; export performance; specialization