Competitiveness and External Trade Performance of the French Manufacturing Industry

42 Pages Posted: 15 Feb 2006

See all articles by Pierre-Richard Agenor

Pierre-Richard Agenor

The University of Manchester - School of Social Sciences

Date Written: December 1995

Abstract

This paper provides an assessment of competitiveness and external trade performance of the French manufacturing industry during the 1980s and early 1990s. The first part of the paper reviews developments in a broad range of competitiveness indicators. The analysis indicates that the manufacturing sector appears to have maintained its competitive position in recent years. The second part discusses developments in export market shares. The third part estimates a vector error correction model relating the trade ratio to relative unit labor costs, domestic and foreign demand, and nonprice competitiveness. Variance decompositions suggest that fluctuations in price and nonprice competitiveness account for about two-fifths of fluctuations in manufacturing trade flows.

JEL Classification: C32, F17, F41

Suggested Citation

Agenor, Pierre-Richard, Competitiveness and External Trade Performance of the French Manufacturing Industry (December 1995). IMF Working Paper No. 95/137, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=883283

Pierre-Richard Agenor (Contact Author)

The University of Manchester - School of Social Sciences ( email )

Oxford Road
Manchester, M13 9PL
United Kingdom

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