Inside the White Box: Unpacking the Determinants of Quality and Vertical Specialization

The article considers the problem of international supply chains in machinery-building. The meanings of appropriate terms are specified (outsourcing, international production sharing, vertical specialization). It is clarified (following D. Hummels et al.) the definition of vertical specialization as a structure of supply chain when a country is using imported inputs to produce goods for exports. It is emphasized that countries exporting raw materials usually show high share of vertical specialization-based trade in their exports but not in imports. Developed industrial countries (excluding Japan) usually show high content of vertical specialization-based trade in both exports and imports. Statistical analysis of the intra-industry labor division in the office, accounting and computing machinery of Asia and Pacific is made. In China and Japan most inputs consumed by office, accounting and computing machinery are of domestic origin. The larger share of intermediate production of the office, accounting and computing machinery, consumed by the same branch, in China is of domestic origin, too. It means that a queue of successive components of supply chains is placed on the territory of China. At the same time, what concerns the territory of Korea assembling industries are prevailing. In USA and Japan the branch is using as inputs mostly intermediate production of domestic origin. Still, a larger fraction of the intermediate production of the computer industry itself is imported. In the four from five countries reviewed (USA, Japan, Republic of Korea, Thailand) the imported intermediate production for computer industry used by the respective industry as inputs is larger than the domestic production. This proves high degree of internationalization of this industry in Asia and Pacific.

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Accounting of gross exports and tracing foreign values in the global pharmaceutical value chain

Journal of Korea Trade ◽

10.1108/jkt-02-2018-0008 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 348-363

Author(s):

Chang-soo Lee ◽

Mikyung Yun

Keyword(s):

Value Chain ◽

Decomposition Method ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Bilateral Trade ◽

Value Chains ◽

Vertical Specialization ◽

Content Type ◽

Second Tier ◽

First Time ◽

European Regional

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to document for the first time the vertical specialization structure of the global pharmaceutical value chain. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts Wang et al.’s (2013) gross exports decomposition method to trace foreign values in bilateral trade between major pharmaceutical producers, using the 2014 WIOT database. Findings The paper shows that as in other sectoral value chains, the pharmaceutical value chain is heavily regional. The paper identifies a strong European regional value chain, and a less intensive, Asian regional value chain. Korea is positioned in the middle of the Asian value chain, and is connected to the European regional value chain as a second-tier supplier. Originality/value The paper documents the vertical specialization structure of the global pharmaceutical value chain through gross exports decomposition method, making use of the World Input–Output Table Database 2014 which disaggregates pharmaceuticals in its industry classification for the first time.

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Vertical specialization across the world: A relative measure

The North American Journal of Economics and Finance ◽

10.1016/j.najef.2009.05.003 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 267-280 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

João Amador ◽

Sónia Cabral

Keyword(s):

Vertical Specialization ◽

Relative Measure ◽

The World

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Globalization's Alternatives: Competing or Complementary Perspectives?

Government and Opposition ◽

10.1111/j.1477-7053.2007.00244.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 79-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John Glenn

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Product Differentiation ◽

World Trade ◽

Developing World ◽

International Economy ◽

Vertical Specialization ◽

Main Factors ◽

Partial View ◽

Investment Patterns ◽

Trade And Investment

AbstractRecent writings on globalization have tended to argue that such economic interconnectedness is, in one way or another, geographically delimited. Three competing views appear in the literature, regionalization, triadization and the involutionist perspective. This article challenges the portrayal of these perspectives as competing conceptions and instead argues that each perspective furnishes us with a partial view of a larger process. In so doing, this paper revisits the involutionist perspective, arguing that, in relation to the developing countries’ relative share of world trade and investment shares, the use of the term ‘globalization’ should be questioned. Rather, in relation to trade, involution is a more apt description. However, in terms of FDI, stasis better describes the contemporary international economy. The article then examines the trade and investment patterns within the triad, corroborating earlier findings that each leg of the triad is increasingly trading more with their neighbours than with each other, but that inter-triad FDI is indeed increasing. Three main factors are presented in order to explain the contemporary patterns of trade and investment associated with involution, regionalization and triadization: product differentiation, vertical specialization and the continuing concentration on primary product production in much of the developing world.

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