Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/222681 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
ADBI Working Paper Series No. 914
Publisher: 
Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo
Abstract: 
This paper uses a theory-based measure of productivity-based comparative advantage to examine the trade performance of developing Asian economies in manufacturing and services over the 1995-2011 period. We find that the growth in service exports was nearly as rapid as that in manufacturing over this period - a little-appreciated fact. Services are therefore an integral part of "Factory Asia." Moreover, the results from a quantitative model of trade show that revealed productivity measures are often comparable between manufacturing and services at a disaggregated level, although the results differ markedly across sectors and economies. We also find evidence of rapid growth in revealed productivity in some service subsectors, comparable to that in manufacturing. Our findings suggest that oversimplifying the relationship between patterns of specialization and subsequent economic transformation and growth patterns misses important elements of reality.
Subjects: 
services
trade
comparative advantage
productivity
Asia
JEL: 
F14
F15
L80
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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