Economic complexity and price competitiveness dependence: empirical evidence using panel models

Purpose As economies with high economic complexity and productive capabilities may easily adapt their productive structure due to product differentiation and innovation, the central variable of competitiveness for these countries is the product quality, not price. On the other hand, the price can be an important determinant of less complex countries, and hence, real exchange rate (RER) misalignments may have long-term impacts. This paper aims to empirically assess variations in the magnitude of the impact in RER misalignments on output growth subject to countries’ economic complexity. Design/methodology/approach The estimation technique used is the generalized method of moments-System estimator as this method is robust to reverse causality. Heterogeneous regressions using interaction models are undertaken to analyze to what extend promoting economic complexity can reduce price competitiveness dependence and allow countries to grow faster without relying on cost competitiveness. Findings Estimates show that economic complexity (which measures technological and productive capabilities) determines cross-country differences regarding the effects of RER misalignments on countries’ long-term growth rates. The results suggest that exchange rate devaluations may not be effective for countries at the top end of the technological ladder while an overvalued RER may damage the long-term growth rate of countries with low levels of economic complexity. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by empirically investigating the impact of RER misalignments in countries with distinct technological and productive capabilities based on the recent developments of countries’ economic complexity analysis. It investigates whether more diversified and complex economies are less sensitive to RER misalignments as they can adapt their production, undertake other tasks, create new products and increase the quality of products they produce. Less complex economies, on the other hand, are less capable of innovating because it demands productive capabilities they do not have, and hence, they are more dependent on their current export basket.

Effects of Price Competitiveness on Tourism Performance under Different Economic Conditions

Many scholars perceive price competitiveness as a highly relevant element of tourism competitiveness in improving tourism performance. We focused our research interest specifically to understand whether price competitiveness is an important policy instrument in attracting international tourists and their spending. Our empirical study focused on how price competitiveness behaves as a predictor of tourism performance in different economic conditions and whether price competitiveness is a significant cause of tourism competitiveness in improving tourism performance. For that purpose, we conducted empirical analysis within two stages: moderation analysis to understand how price competitiveness influences tourism performance from the point of view of inbound international tourism and how this relationship behaves in different economic conditions; and mediation analysis to understand whether price competitiveness is relevant cause for tourist competitiveness in improving tourism performance. This study has revealed different views about price competitiveness and its influence on the tourism industry. The findings indicate that price competitiveness has rather limited effects on the outcomes of the tourism industry and is not a cause of overall tourism competitiveness in improving tourism performance.

An investigation into the Online Sales Channels of Small Business Fashion Retailers on Portal Shopping and Fashion Shopping Malls

The aim of this study was to analyze the perceptions and entering status of small business online fashion retailers on portal shopping and fashion shopping malls. Case studies were conducted on a total of 10 research samples. The results were as follows: first, regarding the strategic factors of online fashion stores, ‘price competitiveness’ is important, especially in portal shopping and low-cost brands; ‘product assortment’ is important but not essential in all platforms; and ‘differentiation’ is important to continuously secure loyal customers in fashion shopping malls. Customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty, and customer loyalty affects the sales conversion rate and brand growth of online sales channels. Factors that promoted sales activities in online sales channels were exposure, advertisements, SNS, events, special exhibitions, and events. Hindrance factors were low price competition, overheated competition, and the MD of sales channels. Second, the research samples used multiple online sales channels, including portal shopping malls and fashion shopping malls, in addition to their own malls. The selection factors were platform reputation and commission, branding, and customer inflow through exposure. Portal shopping malls were perceived as providing easy access, advertising/customer communication, exposure/search, price competitiveness, scalability, and intense competition, whereas fashion shopping malls were perceived as providing a brand image and concept, brand promotion, high commissions, difficult entry, and low profits. The factors for success in portal shopping malls were exposure/search, price competitiveness, and brand recognition, whereas the factors for success in fashion shopping malls were differentiation, brand, exposure/advertisement, product assortment, and MD.

TOURISM DEMAND IN INDONESIA: IMPLICATIONS IN A POST-PANDEMIC PERIOD

This study uses an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to investigate the role of incomes, relative price competitiveness, and substitution prices in tourism demand from Indonesia’s six largest countries of origin from 2007Q1 to 2019Q4. Income level, competitive prices, and substitution prices significantly impact the demand for tourism in Indonesia. Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, and India are income elastic, signaling that tourism is a luxury good, but China (normal good). Malaysia and China are price elastic while Japan, India, Singapore, and Australia are less affected by changes in relative prices. Substitute prices may drive tourist to other destinations if the change in prices is large.

Price and value competitiveness of Ukrainian merchandise exports

In economics, "competitiveness" remains a very general concept, and its use in applied research does not allow combining their results and making unambiguous conclusions. This process is also complicated by the fact that the concept is composite and has two components – the price competitiveness and the value competitiveness. The latter can serve as an indicator of qualitative changes in the economy. However, this aspect of competitiveness in developing countries is still underestimated by researchers. Therefore, it is safe to say that today there are no studies, which, with a high level of accuracy, can analyze the value competitiveness of exports in such countries. Economists usually focus their efforts on the analysis of export price competitiveness and one of its main factors, which is the exchange rate of the national currency. However, this approach has limited cognitive capabilities, because the emergence of new centers of global growth, such as China and India is impossible to explain, based only on the high price competitiveness of their exports. The article attempts to solve some accumulated problems in economic science. In particular, based on the results of the analysis of modern definitions of the concept of "competitiveness", the author proposes to expand its content, generalizing the level of conformity of goods (services) to consumer preferences of market participants. This conceptual position is used to deepen the understanding of the basic, value and price competitiveness of products. A method for assessing the dominant role of value (price) competitiveness of exports in ensuring its dynamics has been developed. According to the results of the of methodology, it was found that in Ukraine’s export markets, the cyclical process of alternating growth of value or price competitiveness of this country’s products is mostly interrupted. The reason for this is the high price competitiveness of raw material exports, which is mainly attained due to low wages in the economy. In international markets, value competitiveness is inherent in a relatively small number of product groups of Ukrainian products. These include: insulated wires, cables and other insulated electrical conductors; fiber optic cables; turbojet engines, turboprop and other gas turbines; weapons, ammunition, their parts and accessories; electric heating devices and apparatus; vessels intended for the carriage of persons or goods; tugs and pushers; parts of aircraft; cars for transportation of passengers, cargoes, including self-propelled ones; water steam turbines and other steam turbines; and women's and men's clothing. It is substantiated that from the point of view of finding a new strategy of economic growth for Ukraine, the most urgent issues are not those of intensifying export activities, but those of updating the composition of the largest export commodity groups. Leading positions among them should be occupied by goods with a large share of value added, and increased technological complexity and value competitiveness. The beginning of this process will mean the emergence of new qualitative changes in the economy, and the effectiveness of public policy of economic reform.

PRICE AND VALUE COMPETITIVENESS OF UKRAINIAN MERCHANDISE EXPORTS

In economics, "competitiveness" remains a very general concept, and its use in applied research does not allow combining their results and making unambiguous conclusions. This process is also complicated by the fact that the concept is composite and has two components – the price competitiveness and the value competitiveness. The latter can serve as an indicator of qualitative changes in the economy. However, this aspect of competitiveness in developing countries is still disregarded by researchers. Therefore, it is safe to say that today there are no studies, which, with a high level of accuracy, can analyze the value competitiveness of exports in such countries. Economists usually focus their efforts on the analysis of export price competitiveness and one of its main factors, which is the exchange rate of the national currency. However, this approach has limited cognitive capabilities, because the emergence of new centers of global growth, such as China and India is impossible to explain, based only on the high price competitiveness of their exports. The article attempts to solve some accumulated problems in economic science. In particular, based on the results of the analysis of modern definitions of the concept of "competitiveness", the author proposes to expand its content, generalizing the level of conformity of goods (services) to consumer preferences of market participants. This conceptual position is used to deepen the understanding of the basic, value and price competitiveness of products. A method for assessing the dominant role of value (price) competitiveness of exports in ensuring its dynamics has been developed. According to the results of the of methodology, it was found that in Ukraine’s export markets, the cyclical process of alternating growth of value or price competitiveness of this country’s products is mostly interrupted. The reason for this is the high price competitiveness of raw material exports, which is mainly attained due to low wages in the economy. In international markets, value competitiveness is inherent in a relatively small number of product groups of Ukrainian products. These include: insulated wires, cables and other insulated electrical conductors; fiber optic cables; turbojet engines, turboprop and other gas turbines; weapons, ammunition, their parts and accessories; electric heating devices and apparatus; vessels intended for the carriage of persons or goods; tugs and pushers; parts of aircraft; cars for transportation of passengers, cargoes, including self-propelled ones; water steam turbines and other steam turbines; and women's and men's clothing. It is substantiated that from the point of view of finding a new strategy of economic growth for Ukraine, the most urgent issues are not those of intensifying export activities, but those of updating the composition of the largest export commodity groups. Leading positions among them should be occupied by goods with a large share of value added, and increased technological complexity and value competitiveness. The beginning of this process will mean the emergence of new qualitative changes in the economy, and the effectiveness of public policy of economic reform.

Improving destination competitiveness in South Africa: A DEA approach

The notion to travel to a tourist destination is often based on competitiveness aspects. The efficiency of these target markets is, however, not clear, and this article will determine the efficiency of tourists visiting South Africa, which will be categorised according to demographic aspects in relation to cost and competitiveness. Empirical evidence by means of the data envelopment analysis model found that South Africa is currently facing poor price competitiveness in different markets from tourists across different demographic backdrops. Results indicated that age, gender, time spent and continent of origin cause tourists to perceive South Africa as a price competitive tourist destination, differently. Being able to determine these efficiencies for different demographical markets, destination marketing officers will be able to use competitiveness and cost attributes as indicators to which markets will respond. Tourism councils must ensure that the correct information reaches visitors through advertising and marketing campaigns, as visitors’ expectations must be managed to improve the perceived price competitiveness of South Africa’s tourism industry. The findings have clear implications for DMOs’ managers regarding the designed marketing campaigns for South Africa as a tourist destination, especially for segments under investigation in this study.

A comparative study on the chloride effectiveness of synthetic rutile and natural rutile manufactured from ilmenite ore

Studies on continuous and selective chlorination by using ilmenite have been actively conducted because the efficient removal of FeO from ilmenite(FeTiO3) ore using selective chlorination not only improves the reaction purity of TiCl4 but it also leads to price competitiveness compared to TiCl4 synthesized from natural rutile. The chlorination of synthetic rutile with FeO removed was compared with that of natural rutile to examine the reaction efficiency. The selective chlorination efficiency depends on the input amounts of coke and Cl2, as shown by thermodynamic calculation, when FeO is selectively removed. It was found that manufacturing of TiCl4 was easier by using the synthetic rutile, because it had greater porosity than natural rutile. Relatively greater pore volumes were found in the synthetic rutile than in natural rutile. It was confirmed that the reaction efficiency of chlorination for TiCl4 production was directly related to the difference in the porosity distribution between the titanium ores, as verified by a kinetic comparison of synthetic and natural rutiles.

Influence Of Product Quality And Price Competitiveness On Repeat PATRONAGE SMEs In The North East Of Nigeria

This paper is devoted to determine the influence of products quality and price competitiveness on repeat patronage of goods and beverage exporting SMES in North-East Nigeria. Delta were obtained from 244 entrepreneurs in the North-East region of Nigeria. Cluster sampling method was used to determine the sample size since the target population is heterogeneous. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the respondents for the study. A structured on a 4 point modified IKert scale. The person Product moment correlation was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that there is positive and significant relationship between product quality and repeat patronage of food and beverage exporting SMES in North-East region of Nigeria. The study also found a positive and significant relationship between price competitiveness and repeat patronage of food and beverage exporting SMES in North-East region of Nigeria. From the above findings, it was concluded that product quality and price competitiveness have a positive and significant influence on repeat patronage of food and beverage exporting SMES in Nort-East Nigeria, based on the endings and conclusion, it was recommended that Nigerian SMES particularly those exporting food and beverage products should improve their product quality and price competitiveness as it would enhance repeat patronage among international customers.