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Trade, Competition and Productivity

Wilhelmsson, Fredrik LU (2006) In Lund Economic Studies
Abstract
This thesis consists of four papers on trade, competition and productivity with particular emphasis on the effects of various aspects of the deepening and widening of the European Union.



The first paper Trade Creation, Diversion and Displacement of the EU Enlargement Process provides an assessment of the effects of the EU enlargement process on trade. A new method of estimating the gravity model is used to capture the effects of the gradual trade liberalization and the EU enlargement in 1995. The results indicate that the integration of the Central and Eastern European Countries into the EU has boosted trade within the enlarged EU. The 1995 enlargement, on the other hand, gave rise to trade diversion in imports to... (More)
This thesis consists of four papers on trade, competition and productivity with particular emphasis on the effects of various aspects of the deepening and widening of the European Union.



The first paper Trade Creation, Diversion and Displacement of the EU Enlargement Process provides an assessment of the effects of the EU enlargement process on trade. A new method of estimating the gravity model is used to capture the effects of the gradual trade liberalization and the EU enlargement in 1995. The results indicate that the integration of the Central and Eastern European Countries into the EU has boosted trade within the enlarged EU. The 1995 enlargement, on the other hand, gave rise to trade diversion in imports to Austria, Finland and Sweden at the expense of developing countries.



The second paper Assessing the Effects of EU Trade Preferences for Developing Countries (co-authored with Maria Persson, Department of Economics Lund University) uses an improved gravity equation to estimate the effects of EU trade preferences, granted to developing countries, on trade. The preferences were first introduced in the early 60s and have since expanded to cover almost all developing countries, but the scope of preferences varies across groups of countries. The results point to a significant trade creating effect of the preferences, especially for African Caribean and Pacific countries, for whom the preferences have increased export by about 30 %. Moreover, the enlargements of the EU have reduced the propensity of new members to import from developing countries.



The third paper Market Power and European Competition in the Swedish Food Industry uses a sample of Swedish firms in the food and beverage industry to study the effects of the Single Market programme and the Swedish EU membership on firms? market power. The results show that firms enjoy some degree of market power, which varies across sectors. The increased real and potential foreign competition has contributed to reducing market power in sectors that were protected by trade barriers prior to Swedish EU membership.



The last paper Exports and Productivity of Russian Firms ? In Search of Causality



(co-authored with Konstantin Kozlov, CEFIR, Moscow) analyses the relationship between exports and productivity of Russian firms. It is shown that exporters are larger and more productive than non-exporters. This seems to be an effect of more productive firms self-selecting into the export market, rather than the existence of a learning effect from exporting. But there are learning effects among new entrants. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Avhandlingen består av fyra kapitel som behandlar olika aspekter av internationell handel och dess effekter på konkurrens och produktivitet. Särskilt behandlas effekterna av EU:s expansion och fördjupade integration.



Första kapitlet använder den så kallade gravitationsmodellen för att analysera hur integrationsprocessen av de Central- och Östeuropeiska länderna i EU har påverkat handeln mellan dessa länder och EU, mellan EU och u-länderna samt mellan de Central- och Östeuropeiska länderna. Resultaten visar att integrationsprocessen har bidragit till ökad handel mellan EU och de Central- och Östeuropeiska länderna samt att EU-utvidgningen 1995 ledde till minskad import till... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Avhandlingen består av fyra kapitel som behandlar olika aspekter av internationell handel och dess effekter på konkurrens och produktivitet. Särskilt behandlas effekterna av EU:s expansion och fördjupade integration.



Första kapitlet använder den så kallade gravitationsmodellen för att analysera hur integrationsprocessen av de Central- och Östeuropeiska länderna i EU har påverkat handeln mellan dessa länder och EU, mellan EU och u-länderna samt mellan de Central- och Östeuropeiska länderna. Resultaten visar att integrationsprocessen har bidragit till ökad handel mellan EU och de Central- och Östeuropeiska länderna samt att EU-utvidgningen 1995 ledde till minskad import till Finland, Sverige och Österrike från u-länderna.



Andra kapitlet använder också gravitationsmodellen men för att analysera effekterna av EU:s handelspreferenser för u-länder. EU har gett handelspreferenser till u-länder sedan början av 60-talet, och hela den tidsperioden och de många olika preferenssystem som används av EU analyseras. Resultaten visar att handelspreferenserna har bidragit till ökad import till EU från u-länderna, i första hand från de så kallade AVS-länderna (Afrika, Västindien, Stilla havet) som har de mest omfattande preferenserna. Den positiva effekten av handelspreferenserna har dock reducerats av den negativa effekt på EU:s import från u-länder som har uppkommit då EU har utvidgats.



Tredje kapitlet behandlar effekterna av genomförandet av den inre marknaden och Sveriges EU-medlemskap på företagens marknadsmakt inom den svenska livsmedelsindustrin. Studien visar att företagen har en viss grad av marknadsmakt. Denna varierar dock kraftig mellan de olika branscherna inom livsmedelsindustrin. Den ökade importkonkurrensen inom branscher som var skyddade från importkonkurrens före EU-medlemskapet har bidragit till att minska de svenska företagens marknadsmakt.



Det avslutande kapitlet studerar länken mellan export och produktivitet i ryska industriföretag under andra delen av 1990-talet. De ryska exportföretagen är större och mer produktiva än företag som producerar för den inhemska marknaden. Detta beror på att företag som är mer produktiva börjar exportera snarare än att export bidrar till ökad kunskapsinhämtning. Nya exportföretag tycks dock öka sin produktivitet relativt snabbt vilket tyder på en viss kunskapsöverföring till dessa. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • professor Johansson, Börje, Internationella Handelshögskolan i Jönköping
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Trade, productivity, exports, food industry, market power, developing countries, trade preferences, CEEC, EU, Europe Agreements, Handel
in
Lund Economic Studies
pages
125 pages
publisher
Department of Economics, Lund University
defense location
EC3:210, Holger Crafoords Ekonomicentrum, Tycho Brahes väg 1, Lund
defense date
2006-12-15 14:15:00
ISSN
0460-0029
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
08a5be0e-286e-4fe4-84b5-e1c4bb5d3bab (old id 547597)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 17:09:40
date last changed
2019-05-21 16:55:43
@phdthesis{08a5be0e-286e-4fe4-84b5-e1c4bb5d3bab,
  abstract     = {{This thesis consists of four papers on trade, competition and productivity with particular emphasis on the effects of various aspects of the deepening and widening of the European Union.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The first paper Trade Creation, Diversion and Displacement of the EU Enlargement Process provides an assessment of the effects of the EU enlargement process on trade. A new method of estimating the gravity model is used to capture the effects of the gradual trade liberalization and the EU enlargement in 1995. The results indicate that the integration of the Central and Eastern European Countries into the EU has boosted trade within the enlarged EU. The 1995 enlargement, on the other hand, gave rise to trade diversion in imports to Austria, Finland and Sweden at the expense of developing countries.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The second paper Assessing the Effects of EU Trade Preferences for Developing Countries (co-authored with Maria Persson, Department of Economics Lund University) uses an improved gravity equation to estimate the effects of EU trade preferences, granted to developing countries, on trade. The preferences were first introduced in the early 60s and have since expanded to cover almost all developing countries, but the scope of preferences varies across groups of countries. The results point to a significant trade creating effect of the preferences, especially for African Caribean and Pacific countries, for whom the preferences have increased export by about 30 %. Moreover, the enlargements of the EU have reduced the propensity of new members to import from developing countries.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The third paper Market Power and European Competition in the Swedish Food Industry uses a sample of Swedish firms in the food and beverage industry to study the effects of the Single Market programme and the Swedish EU membership on firms? market power. The results show that firms enjoy some degree of market power, which varies across sectors. The increased real and potential foreign competition has contributed to reducing market power in sectors that were protected by trade barriers prior to Swedish EU membership.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The last paper Exports and Productivity of Russian Firms ? In Search of Causality<br/><br>
<br/><br>
(co-authored with Konstantin Kozlov, CEFIR, Moscow) analyses the relationship between exports and productivity of Russian firms. It is shown that exporters are larger and more productive than non-exporters. This seems to be an effect of more productive firms self-selecting into the export market, rather than the existence of a learning effect from exporting. But there are learning effects among new entrants.}},
  author       = {{Wilhelmsson, Fredrik}},
  issn         = {{0460-0029}},
  keywords     = {{Trade; productivity; exports; food industry; market power; developing countries; trade preferences; CEEC; EU; Europe Agreements; Handel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Economics, Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Economic Studies}},
  title        = {{Trade, Competition and Productivity}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}