Why Are Chinese Exports Not So Special?Shunli Yao China & World Economy, 2009, vol. 17, issue 1, pages 47-65 Abstract: Applying a commonly used index for export sophistication in a cross-country study, Rodrik finds that the technological content of Chinese exports over the past decade has been so high that it cannot be explained simply by the economic fundamentals of a low-income country abundant with unskilled labor. Question has been raised for the empirical robustness of the index. I am also doubtful with Rodrik's analysis but develop my argument from a different perspective. This paper briefly reviews Rodrik's methodology and identifies other factors his empirical results potentially hinge on. Based on this, it elaborates on China's unique processing trade regime, the uneven distribution of its exports across Chinese regions and the limitation of HS codes in terms of identifying differentiated products, in an attempt to show that these factors also contribute to higher estimations of China's export sophistication level. Finally, it organizes trade data to reveal the trade patterns that are indeed consistent with the country's comparative advantage. Copyright (c) 2009 The Author Journal compilation (c) 2009 Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Date: 2009 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:chinae:v:17:y:2009:i:1:p:47-65 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article China & World Economy is edited by Yongding Yu More articles in China & World Economy from Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences |
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