EU industrial structure - EU Bookshop - Europa

EU industrial structure 2011 — Trends and Performance
TAbLE IV.15: Indicators of RCA for intermediate goods according to technological intensity in 2009
Exports imports
low medium medium high low medium medium high
tech low tech high tech tech tech low tech high tech tech
Brazil 2.4 0.9 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.9 1.5 1.0
china 1.5 0.7 0.7 1.6 0.5 0.8 1.2 1.4
Eu‑27 0.9 0.9 1.2 1.0 1.2 1.0 0.8 1.1
india 1.1 1.8 0.5 0.3 0.6 1.4 1.0 0.8
Japan 0.2 0.9 1.7 1.0 1.6 0.8 0.8 1.0
russia 0.2 2.6 0.2 0.0 1.6 0.7 1.2 0.8
usa 0.7 1.0 1.3 0.9 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.2
Source: own calculations using COMTRADE data.
Even though the results in the table above are based on less
aggregated data than in table IV.14, these aggregates also
mask industry differences. There are differences even within
industries, as different firms produce different varieties of
goods. These varieties may not be substitutes if they differ
in terms of quality: one way to analyse this is by looking
at unit values. Unit values, trade values divided by trade
volumes, are often used as indicators of price and qualities
of different goods. The rationale is that countries exporting
at higher unit values offer higher quality products. Unit
values should, however, be used with caution. Unit values
are imprecise measures of quality since high values could
be the results of higher prices for similar products, higher
quality or merely a larger share of products with higher unit
values. The imprecise nature of this measure increases with
the level of aggregation that unit values are calculated for. 86
86 See OECD (2011) for a more detailed discussion.
128
Relative unit values for each country have been calculated by
division of the countries’ unit values for industries in different
technological intensities by unit values for world exports and
imports for corresponding industries. Unit values above one
indicate a relatively high quality of products. EU‑27, Japan
and US exports seem to be of higher quality than BRIC
country exports: Chinese exports of medium low‑tech goods
and Indian low‑tech goods are exceptions. The very high unit
values of Chinese imports of high‑tech goods stand out in
the table. Chinese imports of high tech goods are apparently
relatively expensive and of high quality. The result confirms
the findings from the table above, indicating that China has
a comparative advantage in assembly of high‑tech goods,
cf. Table IV.16.
TAbLE IV.16: Export and import unit values of intermediates according to technological intensity in 2009
Exports imports
low medium medium high low medium medium high
tech low tech high tech tech tech low tech high tech tech
Brazil 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.3 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.9
china 0.4 1.4 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.9 0.8 3.5
Eu‑27 2.3 1.2 1.5 1.8 1.5 0.9 1.2 1.4
india 2.9 0.8 0.7 0.1 0.6 1.3 0.3 0.7
Japan 2.5 1.3 1.6 1.8 1.5 1.0 1.6 1.5
russia 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.6 1.4 1.5 1.3 0.9
usa 1.1 0.9 0.9 1.6 2.0 0.9 1.6 2.0
Source: own calculations using COMTRADE data.
The OECD (2011) presents more detailed analyses which
confirm this picture. Half of the exports of high income
countries such as the US, Japan, Germany and France are
exports in the high quality range while some 20 % to 30 %
of the exports of China and other emerging countries are in
the high quality range. This latter group of countries export
relatively more of lower quality exports. 87
87 See OECD (2011).