International trade in value added: some suggestions for improved and new indicators

Modern production methods utilize complex, international business models that result in global value chains (GVCs). The OECD/WTO database on trade in value added (TiVA) estimates these trade flows based on official statistics. Using the TiVA dataset, this paper outlines the so-called 'profiles by country' used for analytical purposes and makes some suggestions for how indicators, such as the GVC participation index; the length of GVCs might be improved

Globalization and Trade Flows: What You See is Not What You Get!

The trade collapse that followed the recent financial crisis has led to a renewed interest on the measurement issues affecting international merchandise trade statistics in the new globalized economy. The international fragmentation of industrial production blurs the concept of country of origin and calls for the production of new statistics on the domestic content of exports, with a view of estimating trade in value added. Alongside, the international statistical community has revised in 2010 the concepts and definitions on both, international merchandise trade and trade in services statistics. This paper discusses the various issues related to the concepts of goods for processing and intra firm trade in trade statistics, and provides an overview of the method of analysing the impact of the fragmentation of production in international value chains

The Similarities and Differences among the Three Major Global Inter-Country Input-output Database and their Implications for Trade in Value-added Estimates

This paper compares three inter-country Input-output (ICIO) tables (or databases) constructed by WIOD, GTAP and OECD. We first harmonize the three tables into the same country and sector coverage and check their consistency with each country’s GDP (by expenditure accounts) and balance of payments figures. Then, we compute the differences between the three databases in major economic variables, including gross output, direct value-added, domestic and imported intermediate inputs and final demand. Next, we estimate major trade in value-added indicators, decompose each country’s gross exports into various value-added and double counted components, using the method proposed by Koopman, Wang and Wei (2012), and discuss the similarities and differences of these estimates among the three databases. We conclude the paper with some suggested directions to further improve ICIO databases