Stuck in the middle? The structure of trade between South Africa and its major trading partners

Koen Smet ()
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Koen Smet: Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics & B.A.

Department of Economics Working Papers from Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper analyses the South African trade data from1992 until 2006 by means of a Grubel-Lloyd index, a measurement of marginal intra-industry trade and a revealed comparative advantage (RCA) indicator. During this period a lot happened that influenced the South African trade policy, e.g. the political transition in 1994, the formation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995, the rise of China as trading power, etc. The purpose is not only to analyse the current structure of South African trade, but also to examine its structural change over time. As a result this paper shows that South Africa is principally a supplier of natural resources to both industrialised and emerging economies. With respect to its African neighbours South Africa has a more advantageous trading position. More general this paper shows that an indicator reaches significant different values, if different trading partners or industries are analysed.

JEL-codes: F14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-int
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