Overall Revealed Comparative Advantages

This paper offers a new approach to the measurement of revealed comparative advantages, respectively, the specialization of exports, in addition to the classical approaches of Bella Balassa and Thomas Vollrath. The proposed approach aims to summarize the divergent expression of comparative advantages by commodity groups and countries and to arrive at the general pattern of export specialization. The conclusion is drawn that the contemporary international trade is characterized by asymmetric specialization of exports. This is reflected in the specialization of a large group of countries in the export of lower-processed products and vice versa, a small group of countries specialized in the export of highly-processed products.