Rethinking revealed comparative advantage with micro and macro data

Hanwei Huang, Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano

Research output: Working PapersWorking paper

Abstract

The Balassa's index of revealed comparative advantage does not necessarily reveal Ricardian comparative advantage. We propose an alternative sufficient statistics approach based on a quantitative standard trade model incorporating firm and product selection. We show that the model's micro foundations do not necessarily imply that the relevant data for the proposed sufficient statistics must include micro information, but its micro structure is needed to understand how only macro information can be used instead. Applying our approach to Chinese micro data and cross-country macro data, we find that firm behavior has far-reaching implications for understanding aggregate productivity and revealed comparative advantage. © H. Huang and G.I.P. Ottaviano, submitted 2023.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherLondon School of Economics and Political Science
Number of pages83
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2023

Publication series

NameCEP Discussion Paper
PublisherLondon School of Economic and Political Science
No.1964
ISSN (Print)2042-2695

Bibliographical note

Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.

Research Keywords

  • revealed comparative advantage
  • sufficient statistics
  • multi-product firms
  • firm heterogeneity

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