IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcecon/v39y2011i4p499-513.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tariff liberalization and trade specialization: Lessons from India

Author

Listed:
  • Alessandrini, Michele
  • Fattouh, Bassam
  • Ferrarini, Benno
  • Scaramozzino, Pasquale

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effects of policy reform on the structure of India’s trade in manufactures, from 1990 to 2006. It computes comparative advantage indicators on the basis of disaggregated trade flow data and assesses the effects of trade liberalization on the evolution of India’s pattern of trade specialization. Industries where import tariffs have been reduced the most have experienced the highest increase in specialization. Moreover, trade liberalization has helped India improve its comparative advantage in industries with medium- to high-technology content, as well as in some of the industries enjoying the most robust growth in global demand. Liberalization policies have been instrumental in enhancing the international competitiveness of industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandrini, Michele & Fattouh, Bassam & Ferrarini, Benno & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2011. "Tariff liberalization and trade specialization: Lessons from India," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 499-513.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:39:y:2011:i:4:p:499-513
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2011.03.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596711000199
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jce.2011.03.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Panagariya, Arvind, 2011. "India: The Emerging Giant," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199751563, Decembrie.
    2. Poonam Gupta & Rana Hasan & Utsav Kumar, "undated". "What Constrains Indian Manufacturing?," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 211, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    3. Dr. Mitsuyo ANDO & Dr. Fukunari Kimura, 2009. "Fragmentation in East Asia: Further Evidence," Working Papers DP-2009-20, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    4. Athukorala, Prema–Chandra & Menon, Jayant, 2010. "Global Production Sharing, Trade Patterns, and Determinants of Trade Flows in East Asia," Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration 41, Asian Development Bank.
    5. Vinish Kathuria, 2002. "Liberalisation, FDI, and productivity spillovers--an analysis of Indian manufacturing firms," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(4), pages 688-718, October.
    6. Andrew B. Bernard & Stephen J. Redding & Peter K. Schott, 2007. "Comparative Advantage and Heterogeneous Firms," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(1), pages 31-66.
    7. Mitsuyo Ando & Fukunari Kimura, 2005. "The Formation of International Production and Distribution Networks in East Asia," NBER Chapters, in: International Trade in East Asia, pages 177-216, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Sivadasan Jagadeesh, 2009. "Barriers to Competition and Productivity: Evidence from India," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-66, September.
    9. Devashish Mitra & Beyza Ural, 2009. "Indian manufacturing: A slow sector in a rapidly growing economy," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 205-205.
    10. Dowlinga, Malcolm & Cheang, Chia Tien, 2000. "Shifting comparative advantage in Asia: new tests of the "flying geese" model," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 443-463.
    11. Pattnayak, Sanja S. & Thangavelu, S.M., 2005. "Economic reform and productivity growth in Indian manufacturing industries: an interaction of technical change and scale economies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 601-615, July.
    12. Petia Topalova & Amit Khandelwal, 2011. "Trade Liberalization and Firm Productivity: The Case of India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 995-1009, August.
    13. Basant, Rakesh & Partha Mukhopadhyay, 2009. "An Arrested Virtuous Circle? Higher Education And High-Tech Industries In India," IIMA Working Papers WP2009-05-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    14. Rakesh Basant, 2009. "An Arrested Virtuous Circle? Higher Education and High-Tech Industries in India," Working Papers id:1935, eSocialSciences.
    15. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Indicators 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28241, April.
    16. Kunal Sen, 2009. "International Trade and Manufacturing Employment: Is India following the Footsteps of Asia or Africa?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 765-777, November.
    17. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Indicators 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11855, April.
    18. Michele Alessandrini & Bassam Fattouh & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2007. "The changing pattern of foreign trade specialization in Indian manufacturing," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 23(2), pages 270-291, Summer.
    19. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    20. Robert Stehrer & Julia Woerz, 2009. "Industrial Diversity, Trade Patterns, and Productivity Convergence," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 356-372, May.
    21. Yilmaz Akyüz, 2011. "Export Dependence and Sustainability of Growth in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 19(1), pages 1-23, January.
    22. Juan Carlos Hallak & Peter K. Schott, 2011. "Estimating Cross-Country Differences in Product Quality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(1), pages 417-474.
    23. Yue, Changjun & Hua, Ping, 2002. "Does comparative advantage explains export patterns in China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(2-3), pages 276-296.
    24. Joseph Francois & Hanna Norberg & Miriam Manchin, 2008. "Trade Impact Assessment of an EU-India Free Trade Agreement," IIDE Discussion Papers 20080601, Institue for International and Development Economics.
    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. Benno Ferrarini & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2013. "Complexity, Specialization and Growth," CEIS Research Paper 275, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 30 Apr 2013.
    2. Nihar Shembavnekar, 2019. "Economic Reforms, Labour Markets and Formal Sector Employment: Evidence from India," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-42, April.
    3. Mukherjee, Subhadip & Chanda, Rupa, 2017. "Differential effects of trade openness on Indian manufacturing firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 273-292.
    4. Nihar Shembavnekar, 2015. "Tariff Liberalisation, Labour Market Flexibility and Employment: Evidence from India," Working Paper Series 8115, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    5. Bhatt, Antra & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2013. "Federal Transfers and Fiscal Discipline in India: An Empirical Evaluation," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 343, Asian Development Bank.
    6. Nupur Bang & Sougata Ray & Kavil Ramachandran, 2018. "Family Businesses: The Emerging Landscape 1990 - 2015," Working Papers id:12750, eSocialSciences.
    7. Ohlan, Ramphul, 2014. "Competitiveness and Trade Performance of India’s Dairy Industry," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 11(2), pages 1-22, December.
    8. Mallick, Sushanta & Marques, Helena, 2016. "Pricing strategy of emerging market exporters in alternate currency regimes: The role of comparative advantage," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 68-81.
    9. Dong Xuan Nguyen, 2016. "Trade liberalization and export sophistication in Vietnam," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(8), pages 1071-1089, November.
    10. Baiardi, Donatella & Bianchi, Carluccio & Lorenzini, Eleonora, 2015. "The price and income elasticities of the top clothing exporters: Evidence from a panel data analysis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 14-30.
    11. Petar Stankov, 2017. "Economic Freedom and Welfare Before and After the Crisis," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-62497-6, July.
    12. Benno Ferrarini & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2015. "The Product Space Revisited: China's Trade Profile," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(9), pages 1368-1386, September.
    13. Ferrarini, Benno & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2016. "Production complexity, adaptability and economic growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 52-61.
    14. Nihar Shembavnekar, 2018. "Did India’s economic reforms generate jobs? Essays on economic liberalisation, labour market flexibility and employment in the Indian manufacturing sector (1990-2006)," Economics PhD Theses 0917, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    15. Kathuria, Vinish & Rajesh Raj, S.N. & Sen, Kunal, 2013. "The effects of economic reforms on manufacturing dualism: Evidence from India," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 1240-1262.
    16. Woong Lee, 2017. "Trade Liberalization and the Aggregate Matching Function in India," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 120-137, Winter/Sp.
    17. Matthew Embrey & Guillaume R. Frechette & Sevgi Yuksel, 2016. "Cooperation in the Finitely Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma," Working Paper Series 8616, Department of Economics, University of Sussex.
    18. Nihar Shembavnekar, 2019. "Economic Reform, Labour Markets and Informal Sector Employment: Evidence from India," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-42, June.
    19. Jun Wang & Chengbo Wang & Xuan Wan, 2021. "Trade Liberalization, Energy‐Saving Technological Change And Energy Intensity: Some Empirical Evidence From China," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(2), pages 365-376, April.

    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. Alessandrini, Michele & Fattouh, Bassam & Ferrarini, Benno & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2009. "Tariff Liberalization and Trade Specialization in India," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 177, Asian Development Bank.
    2. Cazzavillan, Guido & Olszewski, Krzysztof, 2012. "Interaction between foreign financial services and foreign direct investment in Transition Economies: An empirical analysis with focus on the manufacturing sector," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 305-319.
    3. Harms, Philipp & an de Meulen, Philipp, 2013. "Demographic structure and the security of property rights: The role of development and democracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 73-89.
    4. Laura Alfaro & Anusha Chari, 2014. "Deregulation, Misallocation, and Size: Evidence from India," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 897-936.
    5. Jens Matthias Arnold & Beata Javorcik & Molly Lipscomb & Aaditya Mattoo, 2016. "Services Reform and Manufacturing Performance: Evidence from India," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 1-39, February.
    6. Jose L. Groizard & Priya Ranjan & Antonio Rodriguez‐Lopez, 2015. "Trade Costs And Job Flows: Evidence From Establishment‐Level Data," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 173-204, January.
    7. Niklas Potrafke, 2012. "Political cycles and economic performance in OECD countries: empirical evidence from 1951–2006," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 155-179, January.
    8. Christian Bjørnskov & Niklas Potrafke, 2012. "Political Ideology and Economic Freedom Across Canadian Provinces," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 38(2), pages 143-166.
    9. Takeshi Inoue & Shigeyuki Hamori, 2012. "How has financial deepening affected poverty reduction in India? Empirical analysis using state-level panel data," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 395-408, March.
    10. Jan De Loecker & Pinelopi K. Goldberg & Amit K. Khandelwal & Nina Pavcnik, 2016. "Prices, Markups, and Trade Reform," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 445-510, March.
    11. Baiardi, Donatella & Bianchi, Carluccio & Lorenzini, Eleonora, 2015. "The price and income elasticities of the top clothing exporters: Evidence from a panel data analysis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 14-30.
    12. Axel Dreher & Jan-Egbert Sturm, 2012. "Do the IMF and the World Bank influence voting in the UN General Assembly?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 363-397, April.
    13. Subhadip Mukherjee & Rupa Chanda, 2019. "Trade Liberalization and Indian Manufacturing MSMEs: Role of Firm Characteristics and Channel of Liberalization," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(4), pages 984-1062, September.
    14. Albert Bollard & Peter Klenow & Gunjam Sharma, 2013. "India's Mysterious Manufacturing Miracle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(1), pages 59-85, January.
    15. Jung Hur & Hyun-Hoon Lee, 2017. "Apec Has Indeed Created Intra-Regional Trade: A Systematic Empirical Analysis," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 62(05), pages 1077-1095, December.
    16. Niklas Potrafke, 2011. "Does government ideology influence budget composition? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 101-134, June.
    17. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2010. "Aggregation versus Heterogeneity in Cross-Country Growth Empirics," CSAE Working Paper Series 2010-32, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    18. Mukherjee, Subhadip & Chanda, Rupa, 2017. "Differential effects of trade openness on Indian manufacturing firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 273-292.
    19. Chen, Natalie & Imbs, Jean & Scott, Andrew, 2009. "The dynamics of trade and competition," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 50-62, February.
    20. Bergh, Andreas & Nilsson, Therese, 2010. "Do liberalization and globalization increase income inequality?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 488-505, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asia; India; Trade; Liberalization; Specialization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:jcecon:v:39:y:2011:i:4:p:499-513. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622864 .

    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.