Intra-Product Trade Specialization: Export Performance of Brazil and China in Vertically Differentiated Varieties

• Grant number: 10/10957-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2010
• End date: October 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - International Economy
• Principal Investigator: Celio Hiratuka
• Grantee: Samantha Ferreira e Cunha
• Host Institution: Instituto de Economia (IE). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Recent studies, which verify that the unit values of products exported by different countries vary systematically, analyzed the international specialization considering products with a high level of detail, showing that countries do not specialize across products, but within products and across varieties (different qualities). Giving that, it is suggested that competition between developed and developing countries can be less intense, because the former has their exports concentrated in high quality varieties and the later exports, mainly, low quality varieties. Besides that, when this pattern is considered, the commercial and industrial politics can be thought as instruments that not only moves the trade and industrial structure towards technological and capital intensive sectors, but also, inside sectors, towards varieties of superior quality. In this context, the goal of this research is to investigate the trade specialization pattern of Brazil and China in different markets, using the unit values of trade flows, offered by a new database in international trade, the "BACI", a method that has not been published yet in Brazilian foreign trade studies. The hypothesis that will be tested is that the specialization pattern of the two countries does not converge to the evolution of world demand, because their exports are concentrated in low quality varieties. Besides that, it is expected a worst positioning of China in the quality segments, although its structure is moving faster towards the world pattern.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CUNHA, Samantha Ferreira e. Within-product specialization: export performance of Brazil and China in vertically differentiated varieties. 2014. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Economia Campinas, SP.