Specialization and Adjustment during the Growth of China and India

Download or read book Specialization and Adjustment during the Growth of China and India written by Daniel Lederman and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: This paper examines the extent to which the growth of China and India in world markets is affecting the patterns of trade specialization in Latin American economies. The authors construct Vollrath's measure of revealed comparative advantage by 3-digit ISIC sector, country, and year. This measure accounts for both imports and exports. The empirical analyses explore the correlation between the revealed comparative advantage of Latin America and the two Asian economies. Econometric estimates suggest that the specialization pattern of Latin A-with the exception of Mexico-has been moving in opposite direction of the trade specialization pattern of China and India. Labor-intensive sectors (both unskilled and skilled) probably have been negatively affected by the growing presence of China and India in world markets, while natural resource and scientific knowledge intensive sectors have probably benefited from China and India's growth since 1990.