Revealed Comparative Advantage in the Global Citrus Market and Implications for South Africa

Tebogo Seleka and Ajuruchukwu Obi

No 51, Working Papers from Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis

Abstract: This paper adopts the Normalized Revealed Comparative Advantage (NRCA) index and data for the period 1961-2013 to examine comparative advantage among the leading citrus exporters in the global market and draws implications for South Africa’s citrus industry. Results reveal that Spain was the most competitive citrus exporter throughout the review period. South Africa (SA) improved steadily over time from position four to position two, surpassing Italy and Morocco in the process. Morocco, which ranked between positions two and four, was also surpassed by Turkey, which improved from position ten during the period 1961-1965 to position three during 2006-2010. Trend analyses of the annual NRCA scores indicate that Turkey is on the verge of surpassing SA in terms of competitiveness. Broadly, the results indicate that SA experienced weakening (strengthening) comparative advantage during the apartheid (post-apartheid), owing partly to the removal of trade sanctions with European countries during the post-apartheid era.

Keywords: Citrus exports; Competitiveness; Revealed Comparative Advantage; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 Q17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34
Date: 2018-03
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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