Non-price components of market share gains: evidence for EU countries

The authors decompose changes in market shares of 25 European Union (EU) members (excluding Belgium, Luxembourg and Croatia for data reasons) over the period 1995–2011 into various contributions relevant for the assessment of each country’s competitiveness: price factors, non-price factors, net gains from entering new markets, net pressure from additional competitors, shifts in global demand and the effects of integration into global production networks. They find a clear differentiation between Eastern EU members (which gained world market shares) and Western countries (which lost). Putting the focus on the domestic value added in global exports, they find the following. First, the vast majority of EU member states show improvements in price competitiveness over the period. Hence, apparent improvements in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European (CESEE) non-price competitiveness based on analysing gross exports arise largely from relocating production stages into those countries. Second, the integration into global production networks seems to be beneficial mostly for the catching-up economies (Southern and Eastern EU countries) and undermines the competitiveness of more advanced economies. Third, all EU member states have profited from diversifying into new markets. Fourth, all EU member states failed to adapt swiftly to changing global demand patterns.