Economic Complexity and Economic Development in ASEAN Countries

Thi Thanh Mai Le, Le Duc Niem and Taegi Kim

International Economic Journal, 2022, vol. 36, issue 4, 556-568

Abstract: This paper investigates the changes in export quality among ASEAN countries over time by using the economic complexity index. Specifically, we used HS 6-digit detailed trade data for 197 countries over the period from 2000-2017. The results show that the economic complexity of most ASEAN countries, except for Cambodia, Laos, and Indonesia, has improved. The export baskets of ASEAN countries are shifting from low complexity products to medium and high complexity products. We also evaluate the export quality of countries using weighted product complexity, which shows that the export quality of ASEAN countries has improved. The regression results show that economic complexity has positive effects on economic growth, and they also show that infrastructure, education level, trade openness, and financial openness contribute to the development of countries. However, the impact extent of economic complexity varies among different ASEAN countries; for example, its impact is weaker in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia but stronger in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/10168737.2022.2142643 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:intecj:v:36:y:2022:i:4:p:556-568

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RIEJ20

DOI: 10.1080/10168737.2022.2142643

Access Statistics for this article

International Economic Journal is currently edited by Jaymin Lee Editor

More articles in International Economic Journal from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().