Suchergebnisse

Se examina la evolución de la variedad de las exportaciones de bienes de México con datos desagregados de comercio. Tanto los resultados de las estimaciones basadas en los datos sin procesar, como aquellos obtenidos con base en datos procesados de acuerdo con la versión mejorada de la metodología de Feenstra y Kee (2004, 2007), que se propone en este artículo, indican que el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN) no ha provocado un aumento de la variedad de los productos exportados por México. Este resultado contrasta con la asociación positiva entre el TLCAN y la variedad exportadora encontrada en trabajos previos.

AbstractA dramatic disordering of global manufacturing has been seen in recent years. Production processes have fragmented, and many production stages have been offshored to developing nations. Organization of this new global supply chain has evolved into what are often called global value chains (GVCs). Less studied, but no less important, is the shift in the sectoral source of value added in manufactured exports. This phenomenon, often called the "smile curve," involves a swing in the share of value added in manufactured exports that is generated in the manufacturing sector itself instead of, for example, in the pre‐ and post‐fabrication stages. Our paper presents new evidence quantifying the magnitude of the smile curve notion. Using international input–output databases, we find evidence supporting the smile curve at the aggregate level. Specifically, for almost all exporting sectors and nations, we find that the value added to exports has shifted decisively from the manufacturing sector to service sectors. We also find that developing countries reduced their own‐sourcing service value‐added share, while developed countries maintained their relatively high levels of own‐sourcing service value‐added share.

This paper examines the effects of a common currency on the quality of traded goods. For this purpose, we construct a quality‐based heterogeneous firm trade model to incorporate the formation of currency unions and the ensuing elimination of exchange rate volatility. Our main hypothesis is that a common currency enables low‐quality (low marginal cost) firms to commence exporting to the common currency's member countries, which causes the average export price to fall. We empirically test this hypothesis for the euro and the eurozone using Harmonized System 8‐digit traded product data for European Union countries.

Many studies have investigated the impact of imports, especially those from China, on the domestic labor market. In this paper, we empirically examine the effects of not only imports from China but also those from regional trade agreement (RTA) partners on employment in Japan. To this end, we decomposed the total import penetration into the import penetration under the most favored nation (MFN) and RTA regimes. To address the endogeneity concern on our import penetration variables, we estimated our models by the instrumental variable method. As in previous studies in the literature, we found that the rise in import penetration from China significantly decreases employment in Japan. In contrast, import penetration under the RTA regime is found to have significantly positive effects on employment. The increase in imports under RTA regimes is not harmful to the domestic labor market.

In April 2020, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Schools were closed and a stay-at-home order was issued in April and May 2020. This before-and-after study aimed to measure the effects of these COVID-19-related restrictions on physical function among Japanese children. The study included children aged 6–7 years, enrolled before and after the emergency declaration. Their body fat percentage, single-leg standing time, Gait Deviation Index score, and history of falls were compared. There were 56 and 54 children in the before and after groups, respectively. Children in the after group had a higher body fat percentage (p = 0.037), shorter single-leg standing time (p = 0.003), and a larger number of falls per month (p < 0.001) than those in the before group. In the logistic regression analysis, children in the after group had a significantly shorter single-leg standing time (odds ratio (OR): 0.985, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.972−0.997, p = 0.013), a greater number of falls per month (OR: 1.899, 95% CI: 1.123−3.210, p = 0.017), and a higher body fat percentage (OR: 1.111, 95% CI: 1.016−1.215, p = 0.020) than those in the before group. The COVID-19 emergency restrictions had a negative effect on children's physical function, especially on balance.