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Unpacking Sources of Comparative Advantage: A Quantitative Approach

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Author Info
Davin Chor () (School of Economics, Singapore Management University)
Abstract

This paper develops an approach for quantifying the importance of different sources of comparative advantage for country welfare. To explain patterns of specialization, I present a multi-country trade model that extends Eaton and Kortum (2002) to predict industry trade ows. In this framework, comparative advantage is determined by the interaction of country and industry characteristics, with countries specializing in industries whose specific production needs they are best able to meet with their factor endowments and institutional strengths. I estimate the model parameters on a large dataset of bilateral trade flows, presenting results from both a baseline OLS approach, as well as a simulated method of moments (SMM) procedure to account for the prevalence of zero trade fl ows in the data. I apply the model to explore various quantitative questions, in particular how much distance, Ricardian productivity, factor endowments, and institutional conditions each matter for country welfare in the global trade equilibrium. I also illustrate the shift in industry composition and the accompanying welfare gains in policy experiments where a country raises its factor endowments or improves the quality of its institutions.

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Paper provided by Singapore Management University, School of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 13-2008.

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Length: 50 pages
Date of creation: Nov 2006
Date of revision: Oct 2008
Publication status: Published in SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series
Handle: RePEc:siu:wpaper:13-2008

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Related research
Keywords: Comparative advantage; bilateral trade ows; gravity; Ricardian model; factor endowments; institutional determinants of trade; simulated method of moments;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C15 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Statistical Simulation Methods
F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade
F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
F17 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Forecasting and Simulation

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