COMPETITIVENESS & STABILITY OF EXPORT SPECIALIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE

Abstract

Trade and specialization brings nations closer as they become intertwined in their economic activities. Specialization leads to comparative advantage. The export competitiveness of a nation indicates the nation’s ability in terms of natural endowments, product development, marketing and profit making ability in the global market. The export competitiveness of a nation for various commodities can be measured by using the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index. The main aim of the paper is to analyse India’s export competitiveness of agricultural goods and to examine the pattern of stability of specialization of agricultural exports. Secondary data is collected from the WITS data base for a time period from 1991 to 2020. The methodology of Dalum et. al. is used to test the stability of agricultural trade. The OLS Glatonian Regression is applied. The findings indicate that India’s comparative advantage has weakened with a fall in the India’s agricultural exports to the world over a thirty year time period.

Keywords: Export, Competitiveness, Agriculture, Stability and Specialization.