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Productive experience and specialization opportunities for Portugal: an empirical assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Miguel Lebre de Freitas
  • Luis Nunes
  • Rui Neves
  • Susana Salvado

Abstract

Following Hidalgo et al. (Sci Mag 317: 482–487, 2007 ), we use the structure of international trade to estimate a measure of “revealed relatedness” for each pair of internationally traded products, which intends to capture similarities in terms of the endowments or capabilities they use in production. Our method departs from the original one, in that we run statistical tests of equality in probabilities, instead of computing conditional probabilities. We estimate a matrix of “Revealed Relatedness Indexes” using 2005 data and we then investigate which “upscale” products in which Portugal didn’t develop comparative advantage are more related to products in which the country is currently specialized. The analysis suggests that more than 60 % of Portugal’s “upscale opportunities” lie in non-traditional sectors, such as “machinery” and “chemicals”. Copyright ISEG 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel Lebre de Freitas & Luis Nunes & Rui Neves & Susana Salvado, 2015. "Productive experience and specialization opportunities for Portugal: an empirical assessment," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 14(1), pages 5-30, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:portec:v:14:y:2015:i:1:p:5-30
    DOI: 10.1007/s10258-015-0108-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Freire Junior, Clovis, 2017. "Promoting structural transformation: Strategic diversification vs laissez-faire approach," MERIT Working Papers 2017-037, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Freire Junior, Clovis, 2017. "Economic diversification: Explaining the pattern of diversification in the global economy and its implications for fostering diversification in poorer countries," MERIT Working Papers 2017-033, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International trade; Comparative advantage; PRODY; The Portuguese economy; C14; F14;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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