IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bog/econbl/y2014i40p79-103.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Estimating the quality of Greek exports: a non-price based approach

Author

Listed:
  • Sarantis Kalyvitis

    (Athens University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

Product quality affects how countries specialize in production and international trade: higher-quality varieties of existing products help build on existing comparative advantages to boost productivity and exports. The main challenge faced in related empirical studies is that quality is unobserved and is often proxied by prices (unit values), defined as the ratio of export value over quantity. However, unit values cannot account for differences in the composition of goods and their production costs, or pricing strategies across exporters. Moreover, supply or demand shocks will affect prices without necessarily affecting product quality. This paper assesses the quality of Greek exports over period 1998-2012 based on the straightforward intuition that “conditional on price, higher market shares are assigned higher quality”. Export quality is estimated to have fallen by 0.7 percentage points per year on average for the period 1998-2010, but recovered in 2011 and 2012 when it displayed a cumulative rise of 18.7%, yielding an average annual rise of 0.7 percentage points for the period 1998-2012.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarantis Kalyvitis, 2014. "Estimating the quality of Greek exports: a non-price based approach," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 40, pages 79-103, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bog:econbl:y:2014:i:40:p:79-103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bankofgreece.gr/Publications/econbull201412.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric A. Verhoogen, 2008. "Trade, Quality Upgrading, and Wage Inequality in the Mexican Manufacturing Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 489-530.
    2. John Sutton & Daniel Trefler, 2011. "Deductions from the Export Basket: Capabilities, Wealth and Trade," NBER Working Papers 16834, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Peter K. Schott, 2008. "The relative sophistication of Chinese exports [‘Manufacturing Earnings and Compensation in China’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 23(53), pages 6-49.
    4. Peter K. Schott, 2004. "Across-Product Versus Within-Product Specialization in International Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(2), pages 647-678.
    5. Hylke Vandenbussche, 2014. "Quality in Exports," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 528, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pinelopi Zioutou & Dimitris Sideris, 2018. "The energy sector: developments and prospects," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 47, pages 57-73, July.
    2. Theodora Kosma & Pavlos Petroulas & Evangelia Vourvachaki, 2020. "What drives wage differentials in Greece: workplaces or workers?," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 52, pages 69-72, December.
    3. Ioannis Chatzivasiloglou, 2017. "The valuation of assets and liabilities of (re)insurance undertakings under solvency II," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 45, pages 63-90, July.
    4. Heather D Gibson & Georgia Pavlou, 2017. "Exporting and performance:evidence from Greek firms," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 45, pages 7-30, July.
    5. Zacharias Bragoudakis, 2018. "Are the price adjustments asymmetric in basic food categories? The case of the Greek food market," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 47, pages 75-91, July.
    6. Styliani Belli & Constantina Backinezos, 2016. "The transition to the new methodology for the compilation of balance of payments statistics – BPM6," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 43, pages 19-29, July.
    7. repec:bog:econbl:y:2016:i:43:p:19-29 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Hiona Balfoussia & Dimitris Papageorgiou, 2018. "Real and financial cycles in the Greek economy," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 47, pages 7-30, July.
    9. Christos Papazoglou & Dimitrios Sideris & Orestis Tsagklas, 2016. "Europe as an optimum currency area: the experience of the Baltic countries," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 44, pages 35-46, December.
    10. Evangelos Charalambakis, 2017. "How did the Greek financial crisis impact on households? A comparison between the two waves of the HFCS," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 45, pages 31-45, July.
    11. Theodora Kosma & Evangelia Papapetrou & Georgia Pavlou & Christina Tsochatzi & Pinelopi Zioutou, 2017. "Labour market adjustment and labour market reforms in Greece during the crisis: findings from the third wave of the Wage Dynamics Survey," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 45, pages 47-62, July.
    12. repec:bog:econbl:y:2016:i:43:p:55-75 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Sofia Anyfantaki, 2016. "The evolution of financial technology (FinTech)," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 44, pages 47-62, December.
    14. Faidon Kalfaoglou, 2016. "Bank recapitalisation: a necessary but not sufficient condition for resuming lending," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 43, pages 55-75, July.
    15. Nikos Vettas & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Evangelia Valavanioti & Svetoslav Danchev, 2016. "The determinants of new firms’ export performance," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 43, pages 7-17, July.
    16. repec:bog:econbl:y:2016:i:43:p:31-53 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Konstantina Manou & Evangelia Papapetrou, 2016. "The economic behaviour of households in Greece: recent developments and prospects," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 44, pages 7-33, December.
    18. Melina Vasardani & Dimitra Dimitropoulou, 2018. "The utilisation of EU structural funds in Greece," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 47, pages 31-55, July.
    19. Ioannis Chatzivasiloglou, 2016. "Introduction to solvency ii of (re)insurance undertakings," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 44, pages 63-103, December.
    20. Nikos Vettas & Konstantinos Peppas & Sophia Stavraki & Michail Vasileiadis, 2020. "The contribution of Industry to the Greek economy: facts and prospects," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 52, pages 29-67, December.
    21. Sophia Lazaretou, 2016. "The Greek brain drain: the new pattern of Greek emigration during the recent crisis," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 43, pages 31-53, July.
    22. Ioannis Asimakopoulos & Athanasios P. Fassas & Dimitris Malliaropulos, 2020. "Does earnings quality matter? Evidence from the Athens Exchange," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 52, pages 93-112, December.
    23. repec:bog:econbl:y:2016:i:43:p:7-17 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Constantina Backinezos & Stelios Panagiotou & Evangelia Vourvachaki, 2020. "Multiplier effects by sector: an input-output analysis of the Greek economy," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 52, pages 7-28, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zacharias Bragoudakis, 2014. "An empirical investigation of the relationship between unit labour cost and price developments: the case of Greece," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 40, pages 31-58, December.
    2. Athanasios Tagkalakis, 2014. "Tax buoyancy," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 40, pages 7-30, December.
    3. Petros Migiakis, 2014. "The international financial markets as a source of funding for Greek non-financial corporations," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 40, pages 59-78, December.
    4. Martin, Julien & Mejean, Isabelle, 2014. "Low-wage country competition and the quality content of high-wage country exports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 140-152.
    5. Charlotte Emlinger & Viola Lamani, 2020. "International trade, quality sorting and trade costs: the case of Cognac," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(3), pages 579-609, August.
    6. Julien Martin & Isabelle Méjean, 2011. "Low-wage countries' competition, reallocation across firms and the quality content of exports," PSE - G-MOND WORKING PAPERS halshs-00962485, HAL.
    7. Crinò, Rosario & Ogliari, Laura, 2015. "Financial Frictions, Product Quality, and International Trade," CEPR Discussion Papers 10555, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Cagé, Julia & Rouzet, Dorothée, 2015. "Improving “national brands”: Reputation for quality and export promotion strategies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 274-290.
    9. Sarantis Kalyvitis, 2015. "Who exports high-quality products? Some empirical regularities from Greek exporting firms," Working Papers 201, Bank of Greece.
    10. Bas, Maria & Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa, 2015. "Input-trade liberalization, export prices and quality upgrading," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 250-262.
    11. Anwar, Sajid & Sun, Sizhong, 2018. "Foreign direct investment and export quality upgrading in China's manufacturing sector," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 289-298.
    12. Ge, Ying & Lai, Huiwen & Zhu, Susan Chun, 2015. "Multinational price premium," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 181-199.
    13. Michida, Etsuyo & Atici, Cemal & Kojima, Michikazu, 2011. "Does Quality Matter in the Iron and Scrap Trade?," IDE Discussion Papers 282, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    14. Rosario Crinò & Laura Ogliari, 2014. "Financial Frictions, Product Quality, and International Trade," Working Papers wp2014_1403, CEMFI.
    15. Jennie Bai & Jia Guo & Benjamin R. Mandel, 2013. "Going global: markups and product quality in the Chinese art market," Staff Reports 614, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    16. Charlotte Emlinger & Karine Latouche, 2023. "When quality management helps agri-food firms to export," Post-Print hal-04330744, HAL.
    17. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2si2or72bc8ed899298h75877i is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Robert C. Feenstra & John Romalis, 2014. "International Prices and Endogenous Quality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(2), pages 477-527.
    19. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/6ggbvnr6munghes9oc1hggs11 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Emlinger, Charlotte & Latouche, Karine, 2022. "When quality management helps agri-food firms to export," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322407, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    21. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6ggbvnr6munghes9oc1hggs11 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Chen, Natalie & Juvenal, Luciana, 2022. "Markups, quality, and trade costs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    23. Antoine Gervais, 2015. "Product quality, firm heterogeneity and trade liberalization," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 523-541, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    trade; manufacturing; Greek exports; export quality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bog:econbl:y:2014:i:40:p:79-103. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Anastasios Rizos (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/boggvgr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.