A disaggregated analysis of the export performance of some industrial and emerging countries

The paper describes the evolution of export shares and quantifies the contribution of the geographical and sectoral specialization for some industrial and emerging market economies between 1985 and 2003. While the strong growth of emerging countries as world competitors has lowered the market shares of all industrial countries, the results of a constant-market-share analysis indicate that the latter have benefited from positive structural effects. Specifically, industrial countries gained from being specialized in either fast-growing sectors (high-tech) or destinations (Asia). The magnitude of these effects, however, has been quite diversified across countries.