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Industry-Level Competitiveness, Productivity, and Effective Exchange Rates in East Asia

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  • ITO Keiko
  • SHIMIZU Junko

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate export competitiveness based on unit labor costs (ULCs) and nominal effective exchange rates (NEERs) for Japan, China, and Korea for the 12 two-digit manufacturing industries for the period 2001-2009. Japan's ULCs either are relatively stable or declining in most industries, while that of Korea shows an upward trend in many industries, with the electrical and optical equipment industry being a major exception. China's ULCs are declining in most industries. Evaluating ULCs on a foreign currency basis, Japan's ULCs increased rapidly during the period of yen appreciation, suggesting that its cost reduction efforts were more than offset by the appreciation of the yen. The results of our empirical analysis suggest that both increases in ULCs and appreciation of the home currency reduce exports by raising the home country's relative prices. The negative impact of ULCs is largest for China, while it is negligible for Japan. However, the negative impact of NEERs is largest for Japan. Moreover, the negative impact of ULCs tends to be larger for machinery-related industries, suggesting that cost competitiveness is particularly important in these industries.

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  • ITO Keiko & SHIMIZU Junko, 2013. "Industry-Level Competitiveness, Productivity, and Effective Exchange Rates in East Asia," Discussion papers 13094, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    • Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:13094
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    4. Nguyen, Thi-Ngoc Anh & Sato, Kiyotaka, 2019. "Firm predicted exchange rates and nonlinearities in pricing-to-market," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Zhao, Jingfeng & Tang, Jianmin, 2018. "Industrial structure change and economic growth: A China-Russia comparison," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 219-233.
    6. Ong, Sheue Li & Sato, Kiyotaka, 2018. "Regional or global shock? A global VAR analysis of Asian economic and financial integration," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 232-248.
    7. Kiyotaka Sato & Junko Shimizu & Nagendra Shrestha & Shajuan Zhang, 2013. "Industry-specific Real Effective Exchange Rates and Export Price Competitiveness: The Cases of Japan, China, and Korea," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 8(2), pages 298-321, December.
    8. Thi-Ngoc Anh NGUYEN & SATO Kiyotaka, 2018. "Firm Predicted Exchange Rates and Nonlinearities in Pricing-to-Market," Discussion papers 18071, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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