Dynamics of export competitiveness of India and China: a study of HS 6-digit manufacturing exports

Abstract

Purpose The export competitiveness has only calculated on only two aspects either comparatively advantageous or comparatively disadvantageous products for India or China. There is not any thorough study that has been undertaken for Indian manufacturing sector at a segregated level along with that of China. So, in the light of these shortcomings, the purpose of this study is to analyse the dynamics of export competitiveness of indian manufacturing sector vis-à-vis its emerging counterpart, china in the global market. Design/methodology/approach A modified revealed comparative advantage index has been used in two different phases of 2001–08 and 2010–18 to find the dynamic pattern of manufacturing exports of India and China in the world market. Findings The study revealed that India has shown a positive response in increasing its competitive positioned products from low-technology to medium-technology products during the study period. There has been a decline in the competitive positioned products of China and simultaneously China’s threatened product lines have shown an immense increment over the years. Moreover, Indian exports are concentrated to few low-technology and resource-intensive products, that share more than 50% of total exported value for its manufacturing in the global market, whereas, China is much diversified and the exported value is more scattered over its manufactured items. Research limitations/implications The study does not include the factors that impacted the export competitiveness of the sample economies and thus adds a limitation to this study. Originality/value As there is very limited research on dynamics of export competitiveness of Indian manufacturing exports at harmonised system 6-digit level with China, this study fulfils the gap.

Impacting Instruments for Export Competitiveness: Evidence from India and China in the Global Manufacturing Market

“…This can also be accomplished by utilizing automated machinery to make production faster, as India is lagging in skilled labor compared to China. The areas that could attract and absorb export-oriented FDI are the emerging product lines of India (Ganai & Sarin, 2020; Ganai et al, 2022). These include chemicals and pharmaceuticals, mechanical appliances and automated machinery, petroleum and gas, iron and steel, and other engineering product lines.…”

“…Similarly, at the industry level, export competitiveness was studied by Mitchell et al (1993), Alon and Fetscherin (2007), Fetscherin et al (2010), and Alon et al (2011). At the firm level, researchers who analyzed export competitiveness include Salomon and Shaver (2005), Batra and Khan (2005), Pillania (2006), Yip et al (2006), Srivastava (2006), and Ganai et al (2022). However, most of these empirical studies are related to only a few aspects of export competitiveness.…”

Small/medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Competitiveness: A Global Perspective Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

“…Historically, export competitiveness has been seen as the most important measure of competitiveness [7]. Scale of exports, relative pricing demanded by local businesses, export diversity, and the (evolving) technology and skill composition of exported goods and services are all indicators of a country's competitiveness on international markets.…”