The revealed comparative advantage of Irish exports of manufactures 1969-1982

Abstract

This paper outlines the results of an empirical study of the repealed comparative advantage of Irish exports of manufactures during the period 1969-1982. The concept of comparative advantage is central to the theory of international trade. This study involved the measurement of the evolution over time of the revealed comparative advantage of the different sub-sectors which constitute Irish manufacturing industry. The paper is organised as follows. Section 2 outlines the theoretical background. Section 3 deals with the approaches used for the measurement of comparative advantage and for the classification of industrial sectors. An analysis of the pattern of revealed comparative advantage by industrial sector is described in Section 4. These results are evaluated within a theoretical framework in Section 5. Section 6 tentatively explores the implications of the conclusions drawn in the earlier sections for the discussion of industrial policy issues.