题目:Demand Patterns and Structural Change in the Era of Globalization
时间:2016年11月15日(周二)13:30-15:00
Abstract: It is a well-documented fact that Asian countries, represented by China, have been relatively more successful in shifting labor and other resources towards more productive sectors relative to the Latin American world during the past 30 years of globalization. A large body of existing literature in development economics has been focused stories on the production side to understand this phenomenon. In this paper, I propose consumers' inherent relative preferences as an additional source of the observed different structural change patterns across regions. In particular, I construct a theoretical framework to isolate the effect of trade liberalization on structural transformation across sectors through the traditional channel of (production-driven) comparative advantage from that through the (demand-driven) preference structure. Empirical analysis based on sectoral data of trade and production across countries of different income levels spanning 20 years confirms that the demand side effect is as important as the production side effect in explaining the patterns of structural change during globalization. The paper therefore also adds to the ongoing discussion on the upgrade of industrial structures under the "new norm" of China's economic development.