IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i11p4173-d182419.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Institutional Quality and Sustainable Development of Industries’ Exports: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Feifei Wu

    (School of Economics, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, China)

  • Xinyu Yan

    (Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3053, Australia)

Abstract

The knowledge about the relations between domestic institutional quality and the sustainable development of exports in emerging markets remains limited, since most research into the relations between the institutional environment and the sustainable development of exports has been conducted in developed market economies, especially in those of North America and Europe. With dynamic changes in the institutional environment of emerging countries over the years, this paper provides a novel perspective for investigating the relations above. This is the first paper to investigate the impact of institutional quality on the sustainable development of industries’ exports in emerging countries from a comprehensive perspective of multiple institutional environments and multi-dimensional industries’ heterogeneity. On the basis of defining institutional quality and industry heterogeneity, this paper explores the underlying mechanisms of institutional quality affecting sustainable development of industries’ exports and conducts empirical analyses by using the data from China’s 20 industries’ exports to 117 countries for the period of 1996–2011. The results show that: (a) Industries with higher degrees of financial dependence or higher product technical complexities have export comparative advantages in better financial environments; (b) Industries with higher research and development (R&D) intensity or a higher concentration of intermediate inputs have export comparative advantages in better legal environments; (c) The differences in the level of financial development or in the efficiency of legal system would influence the effects of interactions between institutional quality and industry heterogeneity on the sustainable development of industries’ exports. The present paper provides new evidence that institutional quality does promote the sustainable development of industries’ exports in emerging countries. These results indicate that exports of heterogeneous industries in emerging economies are an adaptive response to the specific institutional environment, as well as a continuous release of institutional dividends with the improvement of the institutional environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Feifei Wu & Xinyu Yan, 2018. "Institutional Quality and Sustainable Development of Industries’ Exports: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-22, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:4173-:d:182419
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/4173/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/4173/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrei A. Levchenko, 2013. "International Trade and Institutional Change," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(5), pages 1145-1181, October.
    2. Kalina Manova, 2013. "Credit Constraints, Heterogeneous Firms, and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(2), pages 711-744.
    3. Costinot, Arnaud, 2009. "On the origins of comparative advantage," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 255-264, April.
    4. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1990. "Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1119-1158, December.
    5. Huiwen Lai & Susan Chun Zhu, 2004. "The determinants of bilateral trade," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(2), pages 459-483, May.
    6. Alejandro Cuñat & Marc J. Melitz, 2012. "Volatility, Labor Market Flexibility, And The Pattern Of Comparative Advantage," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 225-254, April.
    7. Nathan Nunn, 2007. "Relationship-Specificity, Incomplete Contracts, and the Pattern of Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 569-600.
    8. Álvarez, Inmaculada C. & Barbero, Javier & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Zofío, José L., 2018. "Does Institutional Quality Matter for Trade? Institutional Conditions in a Sectoral Trade Framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 72-87.
    9. Kletzer, Kenneth & Bardhan, Pranab, 1987. "Credit markets and patterns of international trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1-2), pages 57-70, October.
    10. Kevin Cowan & Alejandro Neut, 2007. "Intermediate Goods, Institutions and Output per Worker," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 420, Central Bank of Chile.
    11. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    12. Cosimo Beverelli & Alexander Keck & Mario Larch & Yoto V. Yotov, 2018. "Institutions, Trade and Development: A Quantitative Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 6920, CESifo.
    13. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    14. Andrei A. Levchenko, 2007. "Institutional Quality and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(3), pages 791-819.
    15. Huiwen Lai & Daniel Trefler, 2002. "The Gains from Trade with Monopolistic Competition: Specification, Estimation, and Mis-Specification," NBER Working Papers 9169, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Chor, Davin, 2010. "Unpacking sources of comparative advantage: A quantitative approach," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 152-167, November.
    17. Stephan Huber, 2018. "Product Characteristics in International Economics," Contributions to Economics, Springer, number 978-3-319-76093-3.
    18. Karam, Fida & Zaki, Chahir, 2019. "Why Don’t MENA Countries Trade More? The Curse of Deficient Institutions," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 56-77.
    19. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
    20. Nunn, Nathan & Trefler, Daniel, 2014. "Domestic Institutions as a Source of Comparative Advantage," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 263-315, Elsevier.
    21. Yang, Lei & Maskus, Keith E., 2009. "Intellectual property rights, technology transfer and exports in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 231-236, November.
    22. Ramón E. López & Vinod Thomas & Yan Wang, 2008. "The Quality of Growth," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28198, December.
    23. Ju, Jiandong & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2011. "When is quality of financial system a source of comparative advantage?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 178-187, July.
    24. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    25. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 691-719, August.
    26. James E. Anderson, 2017. "N-S Trade with Weak Institutions," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 930, Boston College Department of Economics.
    27. Daron Acemoglu & Pol Antràs & Elhanan Helpman, 2007. "Contracts and Technology Adoption," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(3), pages 916-943, June.
    28. James E. Rauch, 2001. "Business and Social Networks in International Trade," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1177-1203, December.
    29. Jonathan Eaton & Samuel Kortum, 2002. "Technology, Geography, and Trade," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(5), pages 1741-1779, September.
    30. Chaney, Thomas, 2016. "Liquidity constrained exporters," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 141-154.
    31. Huiwen Lai & Susan Chun Zhu, 2004. "The determinants of bilateral trade," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 459-483, May.
    32. Tang, Heiwai, 2012. "Labor market institutions, firm-specific skills, and trade patterns," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 337-351.
    33. Thorsten Beck, 2003. "Financial Dependence and International Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 296-316, May.
    34. Ding, Haoyuan & Fan, Haichao & Lin, Shu, 2018. "Connect to trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 50-62.
    35. Feenstra, Robert C. & Hong, Chang & Ma, Hong & Spencer, Barbara J., 2013. "Contractual versus non-contractual trade: The role of institutions in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 281-294.
    36. Thomas Chaney, 2016. "Liquidity Constrained Exporters," Post-Print hal-03389283, HAL.
    37. Ginarte, Juan C. & Park, Walter G., 1997. "Determinants of patent rights: A cross-national study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 283-301, October.
    38. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5g3sadr9h8gbri8hrtq0h6au2 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Castellares, Renzo & Salas, Jorge, 2019. "Contractual imperfections and the impact of crises on trade: Evidence from industry-level data," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 33-49.
    40. Bhattacharyya, Sambit, 2012. "Trade liberalization and institutional development," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 253-269.
    41. Alvarez, Fernando & Lucas, Robert Jr., 2007. "General equilibrium analysis of the Eaton-Kortum model of international trade," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1726-1768, September.
    42. Chahir Zaki & Fida Karam, 2017. "Why Don’t MENA Countries Trade More? The Curse of Bad Institutions," Working Papers 1148, Economic Research Forum, revised 10 2003.
    43. Priya Ranjan & Jae Young Lee, 2007. "Contract Enforcement And International Trade," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 191-218, July.
    44. James E. Rauch & Vitor Trindade, 2002. "Ethnic Chinese Networks In International Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 116-130, February.
    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. Zhong Xie & Guixue Zang & Feifei Wu, 2019. "On the Relationship between Innovation Activity and Manufacturing Upgrading of Emerging Countries: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Wenshou Yan & Xi Yang, 2019. "A New Motivation for Sustainable Trade Between Countries with Different Regulatory Qualities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, 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. Nunn, Nathan & Trefler, Daniel, 2014. "Domestic Institutions as a Source of Comparative Advantage," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 263-315, Elsevier.
    2. Chor, Davin, 2010. "Unpacking sources of comparative advantage: A quantitative approach," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 152-167, November.
    3. Antonio Ciccone & Elias Papaioannou, 2016. "Estimating Cross-Industry Cross-Country Interaction Models Using Benchmark Industry Characteristics," NBER Working Papers 22368, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Ge, Ying & Dollar, David & Yu, Xinding, 2020. "Institutions and participation in global value chains: Evidence from belt and road initiative," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Ferguson, Shon & Formai, Sara, 2013. "Institution-driven comparative advantage and organizational choice," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 193-200.
    6. Ma, Yue & Qu, Baozhi & Zhang, Yifan, 2010. "Judicial quality, contract intensity and trade: Firm-level evidence from developing and transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 146-159, June.
    7. Juan Carluccio & Thibault Fally, 2012. "Global Sourcing under Imperfect Capital Markets," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(3), pages 740-763, August.
    8. Das, Joy & Tanger, Shaun & Fannin, J. Matthew & Kennedy, P. Lynn, 2020. "Institutional Determinant of Market Concentration and Trade in a General Equilibrium Setup," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304458, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Fernandes, Ana M. & Mattoo, Aaditya & Nguyen, Huy & Schiffbauer, Marc, 2019. "The internet and Chinese exports in the pre-ali baba era," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 57-76.
    10. Jaimovich, Esteban, 2019. "Roadways, input sourcing, and patterns of specialization," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    11. Ding, Haoyuan & Fan, Haichao & Lin, Shu, 2018. "Connect to trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 50-62.
    12. Jiajie Yu & Shuang Meng, 2023. "How Does Trade Openness Affect Output Growth? A Perspective from the Input Diversity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, June.
    13. Kukharskyy, Bohdan, 2020. "A tale of two property rights: Knowledge, physical assets, and multinational firm boundaries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    14. Püschel, Julia, 2012. "Task dependence of U.S. service offshoring patterns," Discussion Papers 2012/15, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    15. Ju, Jiandong & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2011. "When is quality of financial system a source of comparative advantage?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 178-187, July.
    16. Wenshou Yan & Xi Yang, 2019. "A New Motivation for Sustainable Trade Between Countries with Different Regulatory Qualities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    17. Kohler, Wilhelm & Kukharskyy, Bohdan, 2019. "Offshoring under uncertainty," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 158-180.
    18. Cai, Jie & Stoyanov, Andrey, 2016. "Population aging and comparative advantage," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1-21.
    19. Martin Strieborny & Madina Kukenova, 2016. "Investment in Relationship-Specific Assets: Does Finance Matter?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(4), pages 1487-1515.
    20. Javier Barbero & Giovanni Mandras & Ernesto Rodríguez-Crespo & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2021. "Quality of government and regional trade: evidence from European Union regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(7), pages 1240-1251, July.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:4173-:d:182419. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.