Weighing China's export basket: The domestic content and technology intensity of Chinese exports

Upward, Richard; Wang, Zheng; Zheng, Jinghai

Abstract

In this paper we use new, detailed, and comprehensive linked firm-transaction data to measure the domestic content and technology intensity of Chinese exports over the period 2000-2007. We evaluate the extent of value-added in China's exports, using a modification of a method proposed by Hummels et al. (2001) which takes into account the prevalence of processing firms. In addition, we provide new estimates of the skill-and technology-intensity of China's exports. Our estimates of value-added suggest that the domestic content of China's exports increased from only 53% to about 60% over the period 2003-2006. Our cross-firm analysis reveals that processing exporters have value-added shares approximately 50% lower than non-processing exporters, even after accounting for ownership, location, and industry. We also show that Chinese exports have become increasingly sophisticated, largely driven by skill and technology improvement within industries. © 2012 Association for Comparative Economic Studies.

Citation

Upward, R., Wang, Z., & Zheng, J. (2013). Weighing China's export basket: The domestic content and technology intensity of Chinese exports. Journal of comparative economics, 41(2), 527-543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2012.07.004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 25, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Aug 10, 2012
• Publication Date: May 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Journal: Journal Of Comparative Economics
• Print ISSN: 0147-5967
• Electronic ISSN: 1095-7227
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 527-543
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2012.07.004
• Keywords: Economics and Econometrics
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/469621
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596712000613?via%3Dihub
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Weighing China’s export basket: The domestic content and technology intensity of Chinese exports; Journal Title: Journal of Comparative Economics; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2012.07.004; Content Type: article; Copyright: Copyright © 2012 Association for Comparative Economic Studies. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.