Measuring comparative advantages in the Euro Area

A core principle in international economics is that the specialization of an economy on the basis of its comparative advantages leads to gains from trade. However, there is no empirical work directly linking comparative advantages and export specialization. This paper investigates whether the comparative advantages of countries have driven their export specialization. Panel unit root tests, panel cointegration tests, and panel causality tests are used to examine this relationship. We also use panel estimation methods that mitigate heterogeneity, cross-sectional dependence and endogeneity. The empirical analysis is based on annual Euro Area data for the period 1995–2016. Empirical results indicate that comparative advantages positively affect export specialization. Heterogeneous panel causality analysis results support that there is unidirectional panel causality running from comparative advantages to export specialization in most countries; and a reverse causal relation in Greece, Italy, and Portugal. Finally, we detect bidirectional causality in Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovakia.