International trade in services in developing countries – threats and opportunities Are developing countries competitive ?

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Kuźnar, Andżelika
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	The paper is a part of the wider research project. Its aim is the examination of international trade in services and particularly the position of developing countries in this trade. Will they have contribution in the growth of services share in international trade? Would it have unquestionably positive effects for them? What actions should be undertaken to maximise their profits and minimise risk? To achieve so defined goal the research study is divided into two main parts. Firstly, I will examine which theories apply to international trade in services. To what extent does comparative trade theory give the answer to the current trade directions? What are the alternative theories explaining trade patterns? This part will not be presented in the current paper. Secondly, I will examine in this paper whether developing countries are competitive in the field of international trade in services. The results depend on how one measures the country’s competitiveness. The paper deals with three indices: observed and so called adjusted exports share and Revealed Comparative Advantage. Countries’ openness to services trade is also presented as a complementary measure. The results show that the popular measure of country’s participation in world exports (observed exports share) understates the position of developing countries in services exports. Finally, I will identify the sources of advantages of developing countries. It is well known that these countries have comparative advantage in labour services (construction, tourism, transport services). New opportunities also emerge because of the technological progress changing the possible ways of delivering services. The question is whether developing countries can change their position in international division of labour by means of more active participation in services trade. What are the possible threats of more liberal trade regimes? What are the possible gains for participating countries? What are the costs of sustaining the “status quo”?
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Alternate Webpage(s)	https://www.etsg.org/ETSG2007/papers/kuznar.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article