Productivity Linkage of India’s Export Competitiveness with Free Trade Agreement Partners

By : Kashika Arora, Biswajit Nag

Page No: 133-142

Abstract
This paper makes an attempt to link export performance with productivity, using Indian data, to assess whether sectors with higher comparative advantage in the FTA partner markets have experienced increased productivity over the years. Changes in exports are then correlated with changes in productivity. The sectors to be studied were identified after calculating the Bilateral Revealed Comparative Advantage (BRCA), and productivity using Data Envelop Analysis (DEA). Malmquist Productivity Index at the sectoral level was used to calculate Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth. The findings from the paper reveal that though it is natural that due to intense competition at the international level, productive firms will survive; in reality, a few other factors play an important role. A labourabundant country tends to specialise in labour-intensive sectors, but due to low penetration of technology, its TFP growth is slower. Price advantages received by firms are solely due to cheaper labour costs. These firms face challenges in reaping the benefits from economies of scale, which is possible only when the scale of operations is larger, along with higher productivity. Also, the relationship between export competitiveness and productivity tends to ignore various forms of trade barriers. The introduction of new forms of non-tariff barriers mars productivity benefits. Regulatory barriers, licensing, etc. play an important role and productivity growth requires concurrent adherence to such barriers for higher exports.

Authors :
Kashika Arora
Consultant, Ministry of Commerce, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi.

Biswajit Nag
Professor, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/PROD.2022.63.02.1