Comparison of Asymmetric Product Quality: Exports vs. Domestic Exports

Authors

  • Zhenjun Cai, Taosheng Wang

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to compare Quality Differences between Exports and Domestic Exports from China. This paper goes deep into the product level of mechanical and electrical sectors, excludes the impact of processing trade and the general commodities exported by wholly foreign-owned enterprises, and estimates the quality of domestic exports. The quality of domestic exports in China’s mechanical and electrical sectors is generally low, showing a slight downward trend of first rising and then falling. The quality index of exports in all sectors is generally high, showing a U-shaped change trend of first falling and then rising. The quality of domestic exports in all sectors is significantly lower than that of all exports in the same sectors, and there is a big gap between the two, and this gap is continually expanding. The processing trade and general merchandise export of wholly foreign-owned enterprises have increased the quality index of China’s export products, resulting in the overestimation of the quality of China’s exports, thus concealing the fact that the quality level of China’s domestic exports is low.

Published

2020-04-30

Issue

Section

Articles