Beyond import substitution and export promotion: A new typology of trade strategies

Abstract

There is considerable confusion in the literature as to what exactly is meant by ‘export promotion’, or ‘outward‐orientation’. This article identifies five mutually‐exclusive trade strategies, and defines the underlying sectoral and market orientations of each. It then measures empirically the strategies of six developing countries. The empirical findings indicate that some of the successful East Asian countries actually pursued an infant industry‐based, exporter‐oriented, ‘protected export promotion’ strategy, not the commonly perceived, static comparative advantage‐based ‘export promotion’ strategy; their protectionist policies are not mere exceptions, but integral elements of their export‐oriented strategy.