RCA Index Research Articles

A Comparaison of Beekeeping Sectors between Slovakia and Romania

Beekeeping sector plays an essential role in agriculture for two main reasons: the process of pollination and the production of honey and other apicultural products. The aim of the paper was to analyse and compare beekeeping sectors between Slovakia and Romania in terms of honey production, market competitiveness and EU funding budget allocation. The secondary data used in the analysis were provided by European Commission reports, the Romanian Institute of Statistics, Slovak statistics, Central Register of Hives in Slovakia, Faostat and Trademap. The competitiveness in honey market was calculated using RCA indices and the Michaely index. Results show that the number of hives as well as honey production increased, while market competitiveness decreased. In conclusion, national beekeeping programmes provide financial support for beekeepers and foster the whole sector, therefore the European Union should continue implementing these programmes to stabilize this sector and increase production capacities in both countries.

Comparing quantitative analysis on revealed comparative advantages of aquatic products trade of china and ASEAN based on 21st century maritime silk road

As the world’s leading aquaculture, aquatic production and trading country, China’s development of aquatic products trade with ASEAN is facing a historic opportunity in the favourable circumstances of construction of the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. In order to make guidance of the product selection and transformation for corresponding export enterprises, this article makes a quantitative analysis the Revealed Comparative Advantage of aquatic products trade from China and ASEAN respectively based on the HS classification and thoroughly compares the RCA indices. The comparison results show that the international competitiveness of aquatic products structures of China and ASEAN are quite different with few overlaps of strong competitive products, and there is a great gap between the two areas in many kinds of products.

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE OF PAKISTAN IN SELECTED MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES: THE RCA APPROACH

The trade balance of Pakistan has witnessed considerable distortion in recent decades due to globalization induced increase in international competition. The success of a nation in this highly competitive global market is dependent on comparative advancement in production specialization in diversified industries. The imports of durable and non-durable consumer goods account for a large part of imports which can be avoided by developing these industries. This study investigates international competitiveness of Pakistan with respect to the world in 11 industries of manufacturing sector that have weak domestic industrial base and large domestic consumption/demand, i.e. pharmaceutical products; fertilizers; essential oils, perfumes and cosmetics; soaps and lubricants; plastics and articles thereof; leather articles; paper and paper products; wood and articles of wood; ceramics; glass and glassware; and toys and sports good, using RCA index on 2 digit HS-level data. The result revealed that among the selected manufacturing industries, Pakistan has a higher comparative advantage only in leather articles, toys, and sports goods, whereas, other industries are showing higher competitive disadvantage. The overall international competitiveness of selected industries is also depicting a deteriorating trend which requires that the production problems and international trade issues required for diversifying the production base in the country need to be addressed.

The Analysis of Agricultural Products Export Competitiveness of the Republic of Serbia Based on the RCA Index

Abstract Agriculture of the Republic of Serbia is a significant economic branch, due to the specifics of production, tradition and because of the enormous potential that it holds for improving competitive performance and development of the national economy. For this reason, in all strategic documents agriculture is recognised as a vital branch for the development of the national economy, which can be achieved by an increase in productivity and greater foreign exchange, especially with the neighbouring countries. Bearing in mind that agricultural food products represent a very important part of foreign trade of the Republic of Serbia with the countries of the Western Balkans, the goal of the research is to point out the comparative advantages of the Republic of Serbia in the exchange of agricultural and food products with the countries in the region, by applying the Balassa index. The realisation of the principal objective of the research was carried out using the methods of comparative advantage, historical method, trends method, methods of analysis and synthesis. The results of research show that the Republic of Serbia has distinct comparative advantages in relation to the countries in the Western Balkans, with the exception of the Republic of Croatia. The key contribution of this paper lies in providing a clearer insight into the comparative advantages of the Republic of Serbia in foreign trade with the countries in the region, as well as pointing out the priority directions of activities of competent authorities in order to intensify. the agricultural export, especially high quality and products at a higher level of processing.

PRODUCTION AND TRADE OF DUCK PRODUCTS IN GLOBAL VIEW

Duck typically represents a smaller proportion in the poultry meat production of the world. However, certain European, as well as Eastern and South Asian countries produce a significant amount of duck meat. In the recent decades, production significantly increased both in these regions and worldwide. This study focuses on the international situation of the duck sector, as well as changes in production and trade trends. In addition, RCA indexes were used to examine the comparative advantages of duck meat and meat products in the world market of waterfowl products in the case of the most significant exporting countries of the world. It can be concluded that even though certain exporting countries have various trade and competitive advantages in the case of different products, other regions must face disadvantages.

Avrasya Ekonomik Birliği Pazarında Kazakistan'ın Rekabet Gücü

The paper basically explores the competitiveness of the industries of Kazakhstan in the Eurasian Economic Union Market by employing different trade measures such as the Balassa’s Revealed Comparative Advantage Index (RCA), Vollrath’s Revealed Competitiveness Index, and Brülhart B Marginal Intra-Industry Trade Index. The main drawback of the existing empirical literature is that various RCA indices are widely used to explain the competitiveness of a country. This paper however not only focuses on various RCA indices but some additional and complementary measures of competitiveness are also applied since they underline different aspects/dimensions of competitiveness.

Competitiveness analysis of the Turkish chemical industry: a comparison with the selected European Union countries

Purpose- The aim of this study is to analyze the international competitiveness of the chemical industry of five EU member countries (Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland) and Turkey, which fall into 19 economies that are in the transition stage from 2nd level (efficiency- driven) to 3rd level (Innovation-driven) as stated in the Global Competitiveness Report classifying the countries according to their development levels. Methodology- The analysis was held according to STIC Rev.4 using the 2007-2015 actual export figures of the chemicals and related products by calculating the Revealed Comparative Advantage – RCA indices explained by Balassa. Findings- The results of the analysis show that Croatia, Hungary and Lithuania generally have rather high competitive advantage while Turkey, Poland and Latvia generally are lack of competitiveness. Turkey, Poland and Latvia have to develop their own technologies in producing high–tech, high value added goods in order to improve their chemical industries to a structure with competitiveness. Conclusion- Chemical industry, as the raw material and intermediate goods supplier of many sectors, has a very important role both in overall production and in foreign trade. The industrial development of a country increases its requirement of chemical products. In global perspective countries aiming to improve their international competitiveness have to strengthen their chemical industry.

Comparison between China and India’s Financial Services RCA Indices and Its Enlightenment on China

China and India are two of the most important developing countries. In this paper we first state the current situations of financial services trade in China and in India. Next, we compare China’s financial services RCA index with India’s and find that India has the greater values of RCA indices than China. Thereafter, this paper tries to give the enlightenments of India’s financial services trade on China’s financial reform, which includes speeding up the financial reform, improving the relevant legal system and improving the rural financial market.

Comparative Analysis of Competition Power in High Technology and Low Technology Intensive Manufactures

An increase in competition power provides more profitability by affecting the amount of production and export. By the increase in technology, innovation and R&D investments in recent ages in the world, high technology industries became even more important for competitive power. In this study, two analyses covering the data from 1995 to 2015 have been considered. In the first analysis, the competitiveness of the high-tech and low-tech sectors has been compared by using RCA index for selected countries. In the second analysis, the relationship between competition power and growth, total factor productivity and R&D expenditures have been analyzed by using GMM.

Poland’s Trade in Services with Germany – EU Membership Experience

Services play an increasingly important role in economies and international trade and are a vital element of building competitive advantage of nations. The aim of the paper is to determine the competitive position of Poland in trade in services with Germany and its changes. The RCA index is used to determine the international competitiveness of services. A special attention is devoted to high-tech knowledge-intensive services due to their potential impact on building competitiveness of all sectors of economy. Germany is a reference country as it is the most important trade partner of Poland. The time scope covers generally years 2004-2014. The analysis revealed that services development is lagged in Poland in comparison with Germany, but there is an ongoing convergence of structures of both economies. The share of high-tech services increased in Poland’s services exports, but Poland does not reveal comparative advantage in any of high-tech knowledge-intensive services.

Revealed Comparative Advantage and Trade Specialisation: The Case of India

The law of comparative advantage forms the basis of international trade, which has been the backbone of the commercial world for long. In a bid to open up the economy and integrate it with the world economy, India has been undertaking a series of economic reforms since 1991, including trade reforms. In this light, this paper attempts to identify the sectors/commodities where India holds comparative advantage. The study also attempts to map the technological structure of India‟s exports, and also analyse the structural changes in the pattern of trade specialisation. The study has been conducted using data relating to exports of all 97 commodities of the Harmonized System (HS-1992) classification for three periods namely average over 1996-98, 2003-05 and 2011-13. The study found that India holds comparative advantage in a variety of products. However, an overall deterioration in India‟s RCA indices over the three periods was also found. The examination of the structural changes in the Revealed Comparative Advantage to find out whether the initial pattern of trade specialisation has strengthened or weakened revealed that India is in the stage of de-specialisation. So, there is a need for India to take steps in order to strengthen its comparative advantage.

Competitiveness Of The New European Union Member States In International Trade In Knowledge-intensive Business Services

The aim of this paper is to study and compare the competitiveness of the new EU member states in international trade in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). The first part of the paper presents a definition of KIBS trade, indicators to measure competitiveness in international service trade, and a short review of research in this field. The second part of the study is empirical. First the author carries out an overall analysis of transactions on KIBS trade in the countries involved. Then the competitiveness of the new EU member states in KIBS export is studied (in total KIBS and in each category of KIBS). International competitiveness is measured by export performance, trade balance and the RCA index. The author compares the competitiveness in KIBS exports between the analyzed countries, and tries to answer the question whether it could have been positively affected by their accession to the EU. The paper uses the WTO database. The analyzed period covers the years 2000–2013, because data on particular categories of ‘Other business services’ have been available only since 2000. The analysis refers to the 12 countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007.

Export specialization in services of the Visegrad countries

The importance of services and the international trade in services is growing systematically. There are some reasons for that, especially the rapid development of IT technologies. This increase in the international trade in services is a global phenomenon, however there are some other specific issues, other than economic or technological, which might influence the trade in services in particular countries. As for the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe such a factor could be the accession to the European Union (EU). The objective of the paper is to analyse the export specialization of the Visegrad countries in the international trade in services and how it changed over seven years after the EU accession. The service sector comprises of a variety of highly heterogeneous economic activities and the diversity of services is also reflected in the international trade of particular countries. Generally, the trade theories deal with trade of goods, but there are some attempts already to apply these theories for services. To find out the export specialization based on the comparative advantage in particular services, the main categories of services are analysed based on the adjusted RCA index assumptions. The analysis prepared in the paper is based on the balance of payment statistics provided by the WTO. The article is concluded by discussing the questions about the export specialization of particular countries and how it changed after the accession to the EU.

Non-Tariff Barriers and Factors that influence The Indonesian Cocoa Export to Europe

The aim of this study are: first, to analyse the competitiveness of Indonesian cocoa in the European Unio market; second, to analyse the competitiveness and the factors that influence the Indonesian cocoa exports to the EU market; third, to calculate the non-tariff barriers imposed by the European Union market for Indonesian cocoa. Methods used are the RCA index and gravity models. The differences between actual and potential trade flows are indicated as non-tariff barriers. Results of the calculation RCA is showed that all destinations of a cocoa export have a high competitiveness (RCA> 1) but tend to decrease. Results of the estimate gravity models show the factors influencing the Indonesian cocoa exports are the real per capita GDP of Indonesia and the destination country, CPI of destination countries, the economic distance, exchange rates, and tariff. The result of non-tariff barriers indicated that the Netherlands is the state which has the largest non-tariff barriers among the most other EU countriesDOI: 10.15408/sjie.v5i1.3131

Český zahraniční obchod s masem a masnými výrobky

The meat production and meat processing industry are the most important parts of the agribusiness in the Czech Republic. The problem of the industry is its low competitiveness towards foreign producers and processors which results in negative balance of foreign trade. The aim of the article is to evaluate long-term development of value and structure of Czech foreign trade flows of meat and meat products. The analysis covers the period of 2001-2014. The problems of the negative trade balance are revealed through description of the trade flows of meat and meat products, the RCA index and relations between import and export prices. The analysis points out the problems of low competitiveness of the intermediate and finalized meat. Alternatively, Czech Republic has comparative advantage in live animals, sausages and homogenized meat products.

Market competition and concentration in the world market of concentrated apple juice

In the study, I examined the market competition and concentration in the word market of concentrated apple juice. I used RCA index to determine comparative advantages In the world China possesses the strongest comparative advantages. Besides China, Poland, Hungary, Chile, Ukraine, Turkey and Moldova possess strong comparative advantages too. I used Herfindahl-Hirschman-index to determine the market concentration. Based on it – excluding the high Chinese market share between 2006 and 2010 – the world market of concentrated apple juice can be considered as a market with a moderate concentration. Based on the secondary research the study has a detailed examination of cause and effect relationships behind the RCA and HHI index results

Determinants of Export Competitiveness: Evidence from OECD Manufacturing

Abstract. Many of the OECD countries are known for having a substantial share of manufactures in their exports. This study aims to analyze the determinants of export competitiveness in manufacturing sector of 12 OECD countries over the period 1999-2010. For this purpose, firstly RCA index for manufactures exports is calculated. Then panel data techniques are employed to test the effects of physical capital, labor cost, infrastructure, R&D, the share of high-tech exports and FDI inflows on export competitiveness of manufactures. The results of the study indicate that conventional variables, namely physical capital, labor cost, and infrastructuremostly determine the export competitiveness of manufacturing sector in OECD countries. Furthermore, FDI inflows to the manufacturing sector has not contributed positively to the export competitiveness of OECD countries for the last decade. On the other hand, R&D variable and the share of high-tech exports have shown positive effects on export competitiveness of manufacturing sector. Keywords. Export Competitiveness, Manufacturing Sector, OECD. JEL. C33, F14, O14.

IT-ITES trade of SAARC countries: does kaleidoscopic comparative advantage work?

Though, liberalisation of services trade is a new phenomenon, it has witnessed sustained growth and acceptance in recent decades. IT/ITES and its trade became the fastest growing sub-sector of trade in services. Services trade of SAARC countries became more dynamic in the post Uruguay Round. These economies are more integrated with the other economies of the world in services. Volatile comparative advantage with knife-edge specialisation pioneered the phrase, kaleidoscopic comparative advantage applicable equally to trade in services. In this backdrop, this study applied the qualitative (analysis of IT and telecommunications policy of all the SAARC countries) as well as quantitative methods (revealed comparative advantage - RCA index and services trade openness has been calculated) to capture the potentialities and competitiveness of IT/ITES trade of SAARC. This paper argues that the kaleidoscopic comparative advantage is not fixed only to bigger economies like India, but it has also extended to comparatively smaller economies like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

International comparison of import and export efficiency of transport services

Services are a sector that is increasing in importance, especially in comparison to traditional production. Due to the unstoppable trends of globalisation and production activities relocating to countries with lower production costs, transport services are becoming increasingly important. Thus, the export and import of these services are analysed in this paper. The comparative strengths of selected countries based on their transport services transactions are calculated using indexes such as RCA and RCA 2. In this regard, Slovenia, a small and open economy, was selected as a base country. Import and export profiles for Slovenia in the field of transport in relation to ten other EU countries are presented, and comparative advantages of the selected countries are assessed. The main findings show that the largest EU economies do not achieve comparative advantages in the transport sector. As for Slovenia, it has achieved a comparative advantage as measured by the RCA index in comparison with the other ten EU countries.

An Empirical Research on Agricultural Trade between China and “The Belt and Road” Countries: Competitiveness and Complementarity

The Belt and Road Initiative provides excellent opportunities of developing agricultural products trade. This paper presents the overview and the prospect of the agricultural trade between China and the Belt and Road countries, and uses RCA and TCI index to empirically analyze trade competition and complementarity of agricultural products between China and the Belt and Road countries. Results show that trade competition and complementarity of agricultural products between China and the Belt and Road countries coexist, but its complementarity appears to be more remarkable. China and the Belt and Road countries should strengthen and diversify the trade cooperation on agricultural products on the basis of existing bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to achieve common development.