Technology and costs in international competitiveness: From countries and sectors to firms

Abstract

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.

Formation of the Cost Parameters of Engineering Survey for Construction of the Energy Efficient Buildings

“…At the same time, prices for some types of work, which are absent in this collection, but similar in content, were also calculated with the help of [3].…”

Does Reverse Causality Explains the Relationship Between Economic Performance and Technological Diversity?

“…Hasan & Tucci, 2010;Siddiqui & Ahmed, 2013;Su & Moaniba, 2017b) and sectoral-level analysis (e.g. Bertoni, Colombo, & Grilli, 2011;Colombo, Croce, & Guerini, 2013;Dosi et al, 2015;Onishi, 2013). The advantage of the ADL model is its abilities to correct problems related to autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity, and control for the unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity of all the main regressors through two-step system GMM estimation (Blundell & Bond, 1998;Roodman, 2009).…”

International Competitiveness and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

“…After Posner (1961), a strand of literature follows the technology-gap theory of international trade -that is, trade flows are primarily driven by widespread technological asymmetries between countries (e.g. Amable & Verspagen, 1995;Cimoli, 1988;Dosi, Grazzi, & Moschella, 2015;Dosi, Pavitt, & Soete, 1990;Krugman, 1979a). For instance, Amable and Verspagen (1995) indicate that technological capacities (patents and investments in technology) are major determinants in shaping the dynamics of exports.…”

“…-Later developed by Vernon's (1966) "product life cycle theory" on the shift of technology from developed to developing nations. -Subsequent studies include Amable and Verspagen (1995), Audretsch and Feldman (1996), Cimoli (1988), Dosi et al, (1990Dosi et al, ( , 2015, and Krugman (1979a), among others.…”

“…While previous studies in competitiveness literature have extensively examined the role of technology and innovation (see Dosi et al, 2015 for a review), this article models competitiveness in the era of the 4IR through an ecosystematic approach. The 4IR could impact competitiveness at country-, industry-, and firm-levels, and through both the macroeconomic and microeconomic drivers.…”