Comparative Advantage, Exchange Rates, and G-7 Sectoral Trade Balances

January 1, 1994

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Format: Chicago

Stephen S. Golub Comparative Advantage, Exchange Rates, and G-7 Sectoral Trade Balances, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 1994) accessed September 19, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

This paper uses a Ricardian framework to clarify the role of microeconomic and macroeconomic factors governing the time series and cross-section behavior of sectoral trade balances. Unit labor costs and trade balances are calculated for several sectors for the seven major industrial countries. The time series and cross-section variation in sectoral unit labor costs is decomposed into relative productivity, wage differentials, and exchange rate variations. The main findings are that changes over time in sectoral trade balances, especially for the United States and Japan, are quite well explained by the evolution of unit labor cost, suggesting that trade patterns conform to comparative advantage. The cross-section results are, however, less conclusive.

Subject: Comparative advantage, Economic sectors, International trade, Labor, Labor costs, Manufacturing, Total factor productivity, Trade balance, Wages

Keywords: Capital cost, Comparative advantage, Cost data, Cost producer, Labor costs, Manufacturing, North America, Northern Europe, Sectoral trade balances, Time-series behavior of trade balances, Trade balance, Trade balance variation, Trade pattern, Trading pattern, Transportation cost, U.S.-Japan trade, Unit labor cost, Value added, Vis-à-vis Japan, Wages, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

50
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 1994/005
Stock No:

WPIEA0051994
ISBN:

9781451842111
ISSN:

1018-5941

Notes

Also published in Staff Papers, Vol. 41, No. 2, June 1994.

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