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Two novel datasets are used to estimate the effect of product standards on firms’ export decisions. The first covers all exporting firms in 42 developing countries. The second covers pesticide standards for 243 agricultural and food products in 80 importing countries over 2006–2012. The analysis shows that product standards affect significantly foreign market access. An increase in the stringency of standards in the destination country, relative to the exporting country, lowers firms’ probability of exporting, deters exporters from entering new markets, and fosters exit from existing markets. Smaller exporters are more affected in their market entry and exit decisions by the relative stringency of destination standards than larger exporters. Networks of other exporters from the same country can help overcome the negative effects of the relative stringency of destination standards on exporter entry and exit.

PurposeThis review has two purposes: (1) to systematically analyse the literature on export competitiveness (EC) and (2) to provide an overview of various determinants and the methodological trends in the subject field, making it possible to develop a roadmap for future researchers.Design/methodology/approachThe systematic literature review (SLR) method was employed in this paper. The authors have covered three decades of research articles published in Scopus listed journals between 1991 and 2020. The determinants of EC are synthesized and widely used theories, and methodologies are identified and classified. The authors have also provided directions for future research.FindingsThe key determinants identified are labour and capital productivity, labour costs, exchange and real effective exchange rate (REER), domestic gross domestic product (GDP), trade liberalization and barriers. The findings reveal that EC is now a scientific measure, since the studies in this subject field have moved towards measuring EC and its determinants.Originality/valueThere has been no comprehensive review in this area exploring the theories, context, constructs and methodologies until now. Therefore, this review provides deep insights into the topic and also offers a unified picture of the subject field.

A current and universal challenge, particularly in developing nations, is the establishment of effective environmental regulation policies that protect the ecological environment without adversely affecting the international competitiveness of the domestic manufacturing industry. To deal with this dilemma, this study investigates the export competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry from the viewpoint of export value added. The Porter hypothesis is applied for an empirical investigation of the effect of environmental regulation on export competitiveness and to determine the presence of intra-industry heterogeneity. Furthermore, this study seeks to understand the mechanisms through which environmental regulation affects export competitiveness by exploring the two main approaches to technological innovation. The findings reveal that environmental regulation has a promotion effect of approximately 2% on the export competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry; however, this effect is non-linear and displays a “U-shaped” tendency, indicating that certain prerequisites must be fulfilled to validate the Porter hypothesis. In addition, the effect of environmental regulation displays significant intra-industry heterogeneity, which is evident primarily in heavily polluting sub-industries and to a lesser extent in moderately polluting sub-industries but insignificant in lightly polluting sub-industries. Environmental regulation also differs significantly in the mechanisms through which it affects different approaches to technological innovation. Independent research and development is affected by environmental regulation through the compliance cost effect, which limits export competitiveness, while technology introduction is affected by the innovation offset effect, which favors export competitiveness. These findings offer political implications for the sustainable development of the ecological environment and foreign trade.

The objective of this paper is to determine the current state of scientific production regarding “competitiveness” in the international context through a bibliometric analysis. This study presents a review of 2293 documents published about competitiveness in the international context from the Scopus database (1983–2017). Two different processing software applications were used, Vosviewer and Scimat. Although very recent bibliometric analyses of the topic exist, the methodology applied in the search term is restricted due to the separate use of a single search combination “national competitiveness” or “international competitiveness”. For this work, three combinations of words with logical operators were used, TITLE-ABS-KEY (“international competitiveness”) OR (“national competitiveness”) OR (“export competitiveness”), thus managing to span the concept of competitiveness in the international context in a broader sense. Our results show that competitive research is in a period of high production. The most productive authors and journals are not the most cited on competitiveness. Only three countries stand out with the largest scientific production about this topic. The trend of the most recent research points to knowledge areas in environmental sciences. The most researched geographical areas in international competitiveness encompass the whole world and especially Southeast Asia.

Two identical firms who start exporting in different months, one each in January and December, will report dramatically different exports for the first calendar year. This partial-year effect biases down first year export levels and biases up first-year export growth rates. For Peruvian exporters, the partial-year bias is large: first-year export levels are understated by 54 percent and the first-year growth rate is overstated by 112 percentage points. Correcting the partial-year effect dramatically reduces first-year export growth rates, raises initial export levels, and almost doubles the contribution of net firm entry and exit to overall export growth.

The digital economy is an important driving force for the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry. This paper uses 2013–2019 manufacturing panel data to empirically test the impact of digital economic growth on China's manufacturing export competitiveness. The results show that, first, the degree of integration of manufacturing and digital economy in the eastern region is higher than that in the central and western regions. Second, the development of the digital economy has indeed had a significant positive impact on the export competitiveness of China's manufacturing industry. Third, the digital economy has different impacts on the export competitiveness of manufacturing industries in different industries and regions. Based on the findings, some suggestions are made to further enhance the export competitiveness of China's manufacturing industry, such as paying attention to the development of digital infrastructure, optimizing the mode of integration of the manufacturing sector and the digital economy, and enhancing international collaboration in digital technology innovation.

Purpose This study aims to analyze the export competitiveness of Bangladesh's apparel industry by identifying the specific product categories that help sustain its export comparative advantage. Design/methodology/approach Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and market share (MS) are calculated between 2011 and 2020 at the two- and four-digit level apparel product categories within the harmonized system (HS) to analyze the industry’s growth and export dominance. Trade competitiveness (TC) at the four-digit level, revealed comparative advantage (RCA) and normalized revealed comparative advantage (NRCA) at the two-, four- and six-digit-level apparel product categories are computed for the same 10-year period to investigate the industry’s export competitiveness. Major export destinations of the top 5 exporting product categories are identified to understand the factors facilitating the industry’s growth. A non-parametric Spearman rank correlation analysis evaluated the association between the RCA and NRCA indices. Findings Among the 34 product categories at the four-digit level, 29 consistently demonstrated an export comparative advantage, as did 34 out of 217 six-digit level sub-categories. In contrast, 12 sub-categories at the six-digit level consistently exhibited a comparative disadvantage in Bangladesh's export competitiveness. Furthermore, the TC measure identified 28 categories at the four-digit level with a robust comparative advantage. 30 categories displayed a positive CAGR, and Bangladesh asserted significant market dominance over 26 product categories at the four-digit level. Research limitations/implications This study's implications are significant for various stakeholders in Bangladesh and other apparel-exporting industries, encompassing government entities, industry officials, policymakers, investors, researchers and students. Nevertheless, limitations arise from the study's reliance on RCA and NRCA as competitiveness indicators, particularly its adoption of a macro-level approach for measurement without exploring a micro-level perspective. This constitutes a notable constraint in the study's analytical framework. Originality/value This study contributed novelty and enrichment to the existing academic literature by identifying distinct apparel product categories that contribute to the industry's growth.

PurposeThe present study provides evidence on export advantages of horticultural commodities based on competitiveness, trade balance and seasonality dimensions.Design/methodology/approachThe study delineated horticultural commodities in terms of comparative advantage, examined temporal shifts in export advantages (mapping) and estimated seasonality. Product mapping was carried out using the Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) and Trade Balance Index (TBI). Seasonal advantages were examined through a graphical approach along with the objective tests, namely, modified QS-test (QS), Friedman-test (FT) and using a seasonal dummy.FindingsCucumbers/gherkins, onions, preserved vegetables, fresh grapes, shelled cashew nuts, guavas, mangoes, and spices emerged as the most favorable horticultural products. India has a strong seasonal advantage in dried onions, cucumber/gherkins, shelled cashew nut, dried capsicum, coriander, cumin, and turmeric. The untapped potential in horticulture can be addressed by handling the trade barriers effectively, particularly the sanitary and phytosanitary issues, affecting the exports. Proper policies must be enacted to facilitate the investment in advanced agricultural technologies and logistics to ensure the desired quality and cost effectiveness.Research limitations/implicationsCommodity-specific studies on value chain analysis would provide valuable insights into the issues hindering exports and realizing the untapped export potential.Originality/valueThere is no holistic and recent study illustrating the horticulture export advantages covering a large number of commodities in the Indian context. The study would be helpful to the stakeholders for drawing useful policy implications.

The paper aims to investigate the export competitiveness of the Serbian agricultural and food (agri-food) sector at the divisional level. The core of the methodological approach is the calculation of export unit values (EUV) and import unit values (IUV) using data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (SORS). The paper looks at export values, unit values, net exports, and competitiveness factors of the agri-food divisions for 2023. The obtained values indicate that Vegetables and Fruits is the division that has the largest share in agri-food exports, shows excellent terms of trade, and belongs to the group (category) of rare divisions that achieve competitiveness with quality. The Tobacco division is another important chapter of the agri-food sector, which also achieves non price competitiveness, has a positive terms of trade and significant net exports, which are very good circumstances in conditions of the necessary structural changes and sustainable export growth of the overall sector. These highly propulsive divisions show the greatest potential for development and increase in the degree of processing, so in the future they should be further supported by the measures of the agricultural policy of Serbia.

This study investigates the impact of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and the regulatory role of third countries on exports from Northeast Asian countries (NEAs) during the period 2006-2017. Using the System Generalized Method of Moments (sys-GMM) estimation, the study analyzes how IPR protection in importing countries affects NEA exports across different product categories. The results show that stronger IPR protection in importing countries significantly boosts NEA exports of copyable goods such as primary products, natural resource-intensive goods, and unskilled labor-intensive goods through the market expansion effect. The presence of third countries enhances this effect through increased competition. However, for technology- and human-capital-intensive goods, third-country incentives modify the impact of IPR protection, suggesting a shift toward market power effects. The effect of IPR protection on exports varies across product types and is significantly influenced by third-country competition. The findings suggest that NEA countries should enhance R&D, upgrade trade infrastructure, and promote trade liberalization. Furthermore, linking export profiles with third countries can help maximize the benefits of IPR protection and maintain export competitiveness in the global market.