Productivity and Manufacture Export Causality Among World Regions: 1989-1999

This article examines the causality relationships between manufacturing exports and productivity for five industry groups and six world regions for the period 1989-1999. Productivity is estimated by using value-added figures, and manufacture export data are adjusted by the revealed comparative advantage index. The causality tests between export and factor productivity concluded that the more industrialized European economies are more export-driven than productivity-driven when compared to other less industrialized European economies. East Asia economies showed improvements in both export and productivity, and the United States had an advantage in productivity and a balance growth in trade. The export performance of countries in South Asia and South East Asia were average, though their productivity has improved. Latin American countries are still in the exporting stage.