The quality and production of textiles and clothing and the completion of the internal market

Measurement of export prices and changes in product quality

“…Several authors, such as Feenstra [1984], Aw andRoberts [1986, 1988], and Faini and Heimler [1991], measure the quality in traded goods, with the indicator being changes in the composition of the product mix within each category. A change toward more expensive varieties implies a movement in the product mix from low-to high-quality products.…”

“…Information for all observations in the sample is used to compare observations i and j. Faini and Heimler [1991] suggested a multilateral version similar to the Fisher bilateral index where each observation is compared with an observation, l, of reference. The translog and Fisher indices allow for measuring pure differences in prices and quantities between two groups of products, opening the way to the measurement of quality differences.…”

“…Moreover, the constructed price indices are potentially useful in any empirical application in which accurate measures of export prices are needed. Some applications of this technique to import prices can be found in Aw andRoberts [1986, 1988], Faini and Heimler [1991], and Boorstein and Feenstra [1991].…”

Product and country substitution in imports: An empirical comparison of theoretical concepts

“…In sum, country-specific effects have become much more important. To disregard them through aggregation, is the major shortcoming ofthe Aw and Roberts [1986] methode This is even more important, as the authors themselves and other researchers [Hufbauer and O'Neill, 1972;Rodrik, 1988;Faini andReimler, 1991 a, 1991 b;de Melo and Winters, 1993] apply the approach to identify the impact of quality changes and non-tariff barriers (NTB) on the direction and pattern of trade flows. It is weIl known that such issues are product-specific and vary substantially between items.…”

“…T he measurement of the quality of imports and the substitution among trading partners is a key question in current empirical trade literature [Aw and Roberts, 1986;1988;Winters, 1990;Faini and Heimler, 1991 a;1991 b;de Melo and Winters, 1993]. To analyze these questions, Aw and Roberts [1986] used the bilateral translog index number technique based on import unit values.…”