Labor Costs and International Competitiveness in Manufacturing Industry

Labor Costs and International Competitiveness in Manufacturing Industry
Author: W. L. Chilton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 46
Release: 1981
Genre: Competition, International
ISBN:

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Report making a comparison of labour cost trends and international competitiveness in manufacturing - discusses the changing pattern in international division of labour and implications for newly industrializing countries and looks at hourly wage rates and exchange rate movements from 1970 to 1980 as labour cost factors in selected developed countries (in greater detail for the UK, Germany, Federal Republic, Japan and the USA), and compares these to selected NICs. Graphs and references.

Competitiveness and External Trade Performance of the French Manufacturing Industry

Competitiveness and External Trade Performance of the French Manufacturing Industry
Author: Pierre-Richard Agénor
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 42
Release: 1995-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451855869

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This paper provides an assessment of competitiveness and external trade performance of the French manufacturing industry during the 1980s and early 1990s. The first part of the paper reviews developments in a broad range of competitiveness indicators. The analysis indicates that the manufacturing sector appears to have maintained its competitive position in recent years. The second part discusses developments in export market shares. The third part estimates a vector error correction model relating the trade ratio to relative unit labor costs, domestic and foreign demand, and nonprice competitiveness. Variance decompositions suggest that fluctuations in price and nonprice competitiveness account for about two-fifths of fluctuations in manufacturing trade flows.

Location of Industry and International Competitiveness

Location of Industry and International Competitiveness
Author: Seev Hirsch
Publisher: Oxford : Clarendon P
Total Pages: 152
Release: 1967
Genre: Commerce
ISBN:

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Economic theory comprising development and testing of a model for use (1) in understanding the relationship between location of industry and international trade competitiveness of manufacturing industries, and (2) in formulating policies to bridge the gap between competitive potential and actual export performance. References.

International Productivity and Competitiveness

International Productivity and Competitiveness
Author: Bert G. Hickman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 416
Release: 1992-03-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0195362284

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This pathbreaking volume conveys the "state of the art" of contemporary research on productivity growth and international competitiveness--arguably the most important problems facing contemporary economics. Adopting a worldwide perspective that features comparative analyses of both industrialized and developing countries, the book assembles papers from an international roster of leading scholars who cover a wide range of complementary topics and approaches. A number of the papers attempt to increase the clarity of thinking about "competitiveness" by developing formal definitions of the concept and relating it to more conventional economics concepts such as productivity. Some provide a macroeconomic perspective whereas others compare cross-sections of individual industries across countries or analyze the efficacy of industrial policies to promote competitiveness. Among the common themes, which are highlighted in the editor's overview chapter, are the measurement of labor and total factor productivity, accounting for the sources of productivity growth, the use of purchasing power parity indexes in international comparisons of productivity levels, the worldwide productivity slowdown, the extent of productivity convergence among developed economies, the primacy of exchange rate fluctuations in short-term movements of competitiveness since the early 1970's, and the causes of the apparent loss of U.S. competitiveness during the 1980's.

High Technology and International Competitiveness

High Technology and International Competitiveness
Author: Romesh Diwan
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 302
Release: 1991-11-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

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Following World War II, the U.S. manufacturing sector emerged as the dominant industrial force in the world in virtually all areas, including productivity, market share, innovations, and capital investments. Though other countries have caught up with and surpassed the United States in many industries, Romesh Diwan and Chandana Chakraborty argue that America can recapture its dominant role by moving forcefully into high-technology industries. In this work, they examine competitiveness in a range of high-technology enterprises, analyzing the industries as an aggregate as well as through three specific examples: semi-conductors, telecommunications, and computers. The authors provide a complete understanding of the technical changes and developments that are taking place in U.S. high technology, and offer guidance to policy makers in promoting competitive strength. Their work defines and quantifies the high-tech industrial sector of the U.S, economy, and analyzes the productivity of this sector by utilizing a translog cost function, which provides information about the structure of the input-output relations in a particular industry. Using these functions, Diwan and Chakraborty answer quantitatively a number of questions relating to the growth of various inputs, productivities, and outputs, which lead to conclusions regarding the structure of production, costs, and capacity in U.S. industry. Their conclusions--that technical change is biased in the main in favor of capital and material, and that capital and skilled labor are complements--are consistent with new ideas and theories in the field. This work will be a valuable reference source for professional economists and policy experts, as well as for scholars and students in international trade, finance, and development.

Technology and Costs in International Competitiveness

Technology and Costs in International Competitiveness
Author: Giovanni Dosi
Publisher:
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

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This paper examines the determinants of international competitiveness at the level of sectors and firms. First, we address the relation between cost-related and technological competition in a sample of fifteen OECD countries. Results suggest that the countries' sectoral market shares are indeed mainly shaped by technological factors (proxied by investment intensity and patents) while cost advantages/disadvantages do not seem to play any significant role. Next, we attempt to identify the underlying dynamics at the firm level. We do that for a single country, Italy, using a large panel of Italian firms, over nearly two decades. Results show that also at micro level in most sectors investments and patents correlate positively both with the probability of being an exporter and with the capacity to acquire and to increase export market shares. The evidence on costs is more mixed. A simple measure like total labour compensation is positively correlated with the probability of being an exporter, while unit labour costs show a negative correlation only in some manufacturing sectors.

Towards a System of Multilateral Unit Labor Cost-Based Competitiveness Indicators for Advanced, Developing, and Transition Countries

Towards a System of Multilateral Unit Labor Cost-Based Competitiveness Indicators for Advanced, Developing, and Transition Countries
Author: Mr.Anthony G. Turner
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 47
Release: 1997-11-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451922884

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This paper attempts to extend the range of countries covered by the IMF’s multilateral real exchange rate indexes based on relative unit labor costs (REER-ULCs) in manufacturing. A data set was assembled that permits calculation of REER-ULCs for 23 newly industrialized, developing, and transition countries in addition to the 21 industrial countries covered by the current system. Although the results are mostly quite encouraging, they should be considered preliminary because of uncertainty about the reliability and comparability of the underlying data. Also, unit labor costs are not available on as timely a basis as consumer price indexes (CPIs), especially for nonindustrial countries. Thus, the ULC-based indicators should supplement rather than replace the current CPI-based system.

Job Creation, Job Destruction, and International Competition

Job Creation, Job Destruction, and International Competition
Author: Michael W. Klein
Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2003
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0880992727

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Looks into the costs and benefits of labour-market reallocation of US manufacturing industries. Includes a review of the literature on implications of gross flows for the costs of labour adjustment to international factors. Concludes that gross job flows may influence gross worker flows, and therefore, human capital investment, wages and worker welfare.