Is tourism an opportunity for lagging countries in the elusive quest for growth (Easterly, 2002)? Recent empirical evidence suggests that the answer is a cautious yes. Aggregate cross-country data show that tourism specialization is likely to be associated with higher per capita GDP growth rates...

Recent studies have shown that developing countries might have significantly better export performance if they were able to increase the duration of their trade relationships. Evidence on duration of these relationships at the firm level is virtually absent. In this paper, we aim at filling this...

This paper uses firm-level data on manufacturing trade from 40 developing countries to explore how the five largest exporters in a country contribute to export growth and diversification. The origins of these firms are also studied. The data show that the top five exporters account for on...

International trade in capital goods has quantitatively important effects on economic development through capital formation and TFP. Capital goods trade enables poor countries to access more efficient technologies, leading to lower relative prices of capital goods and higher capital-output...

In this paper we provide a method to characterise global value chains and a related decomposition of bilateral gross exports by distinguishing three different stages of the value-added flows: (i) the source of value added, (ii) the final assembly stage of a product, and (iii) the final...

This paper revisits the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek (HOV) theorem and investigates its fit for digital tasks and ICT capital, which both represent endowment factors that are expected to shape the digital transformation. We use a theory-consistent methodology for calculating the measured net factor...

Since Leontief's (1953) seminal work on the factor content of trade, the validity of the Heckscher-Ohlinmodel has been judged not only on the basis of formal tests of the theory but also tested against prior expectation. In this vein, this paper uses the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek (HOV) approach to...

According to the Washington Consensus, developing countries’ growth would benefit from reductions in barriers to trade. However, the empirical basis for judging trade reforms is weak. Econometrics are mostly ad hoc; results are typically not judged against models; policies are poorly measured;...

The 2008-2009 global recession, which originated in developed economies, has rapidly spilled over worldwide, hitting different economies with various intensity. The Macedonian economy was not an exception - the export sector suffered heavily, expectations deteriorated and household consumption...