Abstract
The research investigated comparative advantages of the Indian and Chinese apparel industries by evaluating each industry's performance. The investigation employed the global value chain framework. A wide range of secondary data were used from the Indian, Chinese and international databases. The data were synthesised and analysed at the level of each component of the global value chain: textile materials supply, manufacturing, transportation and logistics services, and marketing. The study revealed that the Chinese apparel industry had comparative advantages in the following: material supply in the MMF sector; full-package production and lean/agile manufacturing; and efficient transportation and logistics services. The Indian apparel industry had comparative advantages in: lower labour costs, production differentiation and specialisation, flexible manufacturing, and marketing. Disadvantages in the Chinese and Indian apparel industries were also identified respectively. Industrial upgrading opportunities and recommendations for each industry's future development were formulated. Implications for potential trends of the global apparel industry were also explored.
Highlights
Recent advancements in technology have increased the market and supply of manmade textiles (MMT) (Allwood, Lauren, Rodriguez, & Bocken, 2006)
This study examined the comparative advantage of manmade textile (MMT) industries in the United States (US) and South Korea (SK)
The total US MMT industry had a comparative disadvantage for all ten years, with the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index ranging from .59 to
Summary
Recent advancements in technology have increased the market and supply of manmade textiles (MMT) (Allwood, Lauren, Rodriguez, & Bocken, 2006). The MMT industry has a great potential to create jobs in a developed nation and can help a newly industrialized country upgrade its economy (Chang & Kilduff, 2002). This study focused on MMTs because it has been one of the fastest growing industries in the global textile complex (Chang & Kilduff, 2002). This research investigated trends in comparative advantage (CA) of the United State's (US) and South Korea's (SK) MMT industries. These countries were chosen because the two economies have well established MMT industries (Park & Kim, 2009). In 2013, SK exported $6.8 billion MMTs, which was 52% of the country’s total textile
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