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Determinants Of Labor-Intensive Exports By The Developing Countries: A Cross Country Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • KHONDOKER ABDUL MOTTALEB

    (Cereal Systems Initiatives for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Road 53, House 10B, Gulshan-2, Dhaka, Bangladesh)

  • KALIAPPA P. KALIRAJAN

    (Crawford School of Economics and Government, Crawford Building, Lennox Crossing, Building #132, Canberra ACT 0200, The Australian National University, Australia)

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that the export-oriented garment and textile industries have been playing important role on the overall economic development in developing countries. However, the performance of the developing countries in exporting garment and textiles is in fact, highly heterogeneous. While some of the developing countries such as, China, Vietnam and Bangladesh have been highly successful in exporting highly labor-intensive garment and textiles products, not all of the developing countries have been equally successful in doing so. Using cross-country panel data, an attempt has been made in this paper to ascertain the importance of infrastructure and business environment in explaining the heterogeneous performance in exporting garment and textiles by the developing countries. The paper empirically demonstrates that in addition to the availability of cheap labor, the availability of basic infrastructure, and a business friendly environment significantly affect the export of labor-intensive garment and textiles by the developing countries. The paper, thus, suggests to invest on infrastructure, and to develop a business friendly environment in developing countries to strongly link the growth potentials of labor-intensive products and economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb & Kaliappa P. Kalirajan, 2014. "Determinants Of Labor-Intensive Exports By The Developing Countries: A Cross Country Analysis," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 59(05), pages 1-22.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:serxxx:v:59:y:2014:i:05:n:s021759081450043x
    DOI: 10.1142/S021759081450043X
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Developing country; garment and textile export; infrastructure; business environment; L67; F14; O14;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L67 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Other Consumer Nondurables: Clothing, Textiles, Shoes, and Leather Goods; Household Goods; Sports Equipment
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

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