Capabilities, Wealth, and Trade

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2016
Volume: 124
Issue: 3
Pages: 826 - 878

Authors (2)

John Sutton (not in RePEc) Daniel Trefler (University of Toronto)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We explore the relation between a country's income and the mix of products it exports. Both are simultaneously determined by countries' capabilities, that is, by countries' productivity and quality levels for each good. Our theoretical setup has two features. (1) Some goods have fewer high-quality producers/countries than others, meaning that there is comparative advantage. (2) Imperfect competition allows high- and low-quality producers to coexist. These two features generate an inverted-U, general equilibrium relationship between a country's export mix and its GDP per capita. We show that this inverted-U permeates the international data on trade and GDP per capita.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/686034
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29