중국 수출산업의 비교우위 변화 분석

Changes of Comparative Advantage of China s Export Industry

This paper analyzes the changes of comparative advantage of China s export industry using Chinese trade data from 1987 to 2010. Trade data are from UN Comtrade, while GDP and other data are from the World Bank. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index is used as a measure of comparative advantage, and Markov transition probability matrix and pseudo Lorenz curve are used in examining the changes of China s comparative advantage. The results are as follows. First, the Chinese share in the world export market was only 1.86% in 1987, but this has increased rapidly to 10.97% in 2010. Now China is the largest export country in the world. Second, Chinese comparative advantage of its export industry has changed from a labor intensive industry to a capital intensive industry, and from a low technology industry to a high technology industry over time. However, China still has the highest comparative advantage in the low skill labor intensive industry. Third, Chinese comparative advantage industries have changed more than the advanced countries, and have diversified over time. Lastly, results from the gravity model show that the industries, which exhibit comparative advantage, contributed to the rapid increase of Chinese exports.