IMF Working Papers

Quality Upgrading and Export Performance in the Asian Growth Miracle

By Chris Papageorgiou, Fidel Perez-Sebastian, Nikola Spatafora

November 27, 2019

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Chris Papageorgiou, Fidel Perez-Sebastian, and Nikola Spatafora. Quality Upgrading and Export Performance in the Asian Growth Miracle, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2019) accessed December 4, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

We explore the contribution of product-quality upgrading to the export performance of six fast-growing Asian economies: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand. We focus on measuring the impact of quality upgrading on the changes in these countries’ sectoral export shares during 1970–2010. We build a multisector Ricardian trade model which allows for changes in product quality, and calibrate it to generate predictions about export volumes. Unlike previous literature, our approach allows estimation without employing domestic production data. Our results point to quality upgrading being a key driver of export shares.

Subject: Agricultural commodities, Commodities, Economic sectors, Export performance, Exports, International trade, Manufacturing, Oil

Keywords: Agricultural commodities, Asia and Pacific, East Asia, Export change, Export performance, Export share, Export volume, Exports, Exports data, Manufacturing, Marginal product of labor, Oil, Product export, Product quality, Quality upgrading, WP

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    33

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

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  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2019/259

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2019259

  • ISBN:

    9781513519227

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941