Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness of COVID-19-Related Medical Products Exporters

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic generated an upsurge in demand for medical products. Trade policy changes, including export restrictions and import reforms, have led to a shortage of medical products. The World Health Organization has recommended countries to encourage local production and identify various import sources for medical products to ensure sustainable healthcare capacity to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and any similar events in the future. This study aims to examine the comparative advantages and competitiveness in producing medical products among top exporters. The contribution of this study is the ability to identify various import sources specific to developing countries. From the exporter’s perspective, this study allows countries to recognize their existing competitive strengths in the medical products trade, allowing them to strategize and compete in the international markets of medical products. Using Balassa’s revealed comparative advantage index, this study analyzes 25 primary medical product exporters, identifying several countries with a comparative advantage in producing medical products. Medicines are primarily dominated by high-income countries, including Switzerland and Germany, whereas middle-income countries, such as China and Malaysia, are more specialized in medical supplies, medical equipment, and personal protective products. This finding provides a basis for policy formulation that can facilitate the process of building a sustainable healthcare capacity.

Competitiveness of Ecuador’s Flower Industry in the Global Market in the Period 2016–2020

“…The statistical significance of each value obtained is classified according to the scale proposed by Hinloopen and Van Marrewijk in 2001 [23] (see Table 1). We used Equation (5) which is defined in [11] to calculate the above. It should be noted that by applying the ln to the ratio between the exports of a given product and its imports, a lower value is obtained when it is multiplied with the ratio of exports to the country's total imports:…”

“…Our objective here is to examine the Ecuadorian flower industry and its position in the world flower market. To do so, we analyze the competitive [10][11][12] advantages of Ecuador's flower exports and those of the other current main flower exporters, i.e., the Netherlands, Colombia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The latter three, being net exporters of cut flowers, are also direct competitors of Ecuador in the global marketplace.…”

Is flexibility a dual mechanism? Evidence from the Hungarian food industry

“…On the other hand, it is one of the elements necessary for a firm to be successful (Scherrer-Rathje et al, 2014;Sáenz et al, 2018) in regulating production levels and quantities, updating existing goods, and responding to rivals' plans more swiftly (Sáenz et al, 2018, Blecharz & Štverková, 2014, Idris et al, 2022Oke, 2005). Furthermore, flexibility may be viewed from two perspectives: first, as a capacity in and of itself, and second, as a potent component that allows the production system to respond quickly to market changes and gain a competitive edge (Hallgren & Olhager, 2009).…”