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La compétitivité de l'industrie d'habillement tunisienne. Atouts et limites (The tunisian clothing industry competitiveness : assets and limits)

Author

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  • Iheb FRIJA

    (labrii, ULCO)

Abstract

Récemment, Eli Heckscher et Bertil Ohlin ont fait la révolution du commerce international en introduisant la différence internationale de dotations en facteurs de productions ; " Factor abundance theory ". Cette dotation étant en ellemême un déterminant de la compétitivité d'une nation. Dans ce travail, en se basant sur les dotations factorielles, nous analysons la spécialisation internationale de la Tunisie et de ses principaux concurrents sur le marché mondial d'habillement. L'avantage comparatif révélé en plus de la matrice de compétitivité qualité seront mis en œuvre dans cette étude en vue d'évaluer l'importance de la rivalité dans le commerce international des produits de l'habillement tunisiens. Afin d'appréhender l'effet de la libéralisation sur le développement futur des productions habillements, notre analyse porte aussi une attention particulière à l'évolution des exportations tunisiennes des principales catégories de produits de l'habillement. Les résultats ont montré que la Tunisie détient un avantage comparatif très élevé par rapport à ses concurrents. Cet avantage est détenu dans la majorité des produits habillement exportés. Nos analyses nous ont aussi révélé une situation paradoxale à la théorie d'Heckscher et Ohlin. En effet, la Tunisie étant un pays riche en main d'œuvre utilisée en abondance dans la fabrication des produits de l'habillement, pour lesquels elle détient un avantage comparatif, assiste à une baisse de ses exportations suite à l'ouverture au libre échange. Recently, Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin introduced the "international trade revolution" related to their "Factor Abundance Theory". According to this theory, the "Factor Endowment" is an important element of nations' competitiveness. In the current study, we analyze the international competitiveness of the Tunisian textile sector based on the factor endowment concept. The Comparative Advantage in addition to the "Matrix of Quality" of the Tunisian textile and clothing sector will be calculated and compared with other competitor countries. In the aim of understanding the trade liberalization' effect on the development of the textiles and clothing productions, our analysis will also focus on the evolution of the Tunisian main exported categories of these wearing productions. Our results show that Tunisia has a high comparative advantage compared with its competitors. We notice also that Tunisia holds this competitive advantage over most of the exported wearing products. However, this analysis reveals a paradox situation to the Heckscher and Ohlin's theory. In fact, although Tunisia has an abundant labor factor which is widely used in the clothing production and helps the country to benefit from its comparative advantage in this sector, the trade liberalization has been associated to a continuous decrease of the Tunisian clothing exports as well in value as in volume.

Suggested Citation

  • Iheb FRIJA, 2008. "La compétitivité de l'industrie d'habillement tunisienne. Atouts et limites (The tunisian clothing industry competitiveness : assets and limits)," Working Papers 200, Laboratoire de Recherche sur l'Industrie et l'Innovation. ULCO / Research Unit on Industry and Innovation.
    • Handle: RePEc:rii:riidoc:200
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    clothing industry; Tunisian; Revealed comparative; advantage; quality; trade liberalization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • B20 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - General

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