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In the recent international scenario, the rise of emerging economies, in particular, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) has gained ample of attention. The global trade flows of the BRICS countries have significantly increased during the last one-and-a-half decade. The purpose of this paper is to examine the intra-BRICS and BRICS–EU trade flows.

To study the intensity of trade among BRICS countries and with EU, the Trade Intensity Index is employed for the period 2001–2015. Balassa’s revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index is computed for the assessment of comparative advantages of exports by BRICS countries in the year 2015 in the global markets. A comparative analysis of export similarity is done for India and other BRICS countries in EU.

The findings of trade intensity showed large bilateral trade flows among BRICS member. Russia has emerged as the main trading partner with EU in BRICS. For the year 2015, the comparative study of RCA at HS-two digits and HS-four digits classification highlights marginal structural changes in the export composition of these countries. The analysis revealed that Brazil and Russia have comparative advantages in natural resource-based products, while India and China possessed comparative advantages in manufactured and processed products. The export similarity index shows the presence of competition between India and China in EU.

This paper highlights the need for closer cooperation to promote intra-BRICS trade and to make structural transformations in the basket of trading products by them to have trade benefits at large.

Numerous studies are available on bilateral trade of BRICS members. However, limited studies are available to get a holistic view of intra-BRICS trade. This paper is an attempt to examine the BRICS countries trade profile both at global levels and within the group.

The purpose of this paper is to postulate the impact of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on internationalization strategies of member countries’ firms. The study also aims to triangulate the proposed model using empirical data from PTA partner economies.

The mixed methods research design is used for the purpose of inquiry as suggested by Creswell. The inductive reasoning based on critical literature review and grounded theory methodology is used to postulate the model. Explanatory strength of the model is triangulated using empirical longitudinal trade data of Pakistan with her bilateral PTA partners, i.e. Malaysia, Mauritius, Iran, Sri Lanka and China. Internationalization indices are adapted following the Ietto-Gillies and London (2009) and Petri (1994) to measure the intensity and geographical diversification dimensions of internationalization. Country-level trade statistics are used as a proxy of firm-level data to explain the international expansion of home firms resulting from PTAs.

Empirical results confirm a strong and long-term impact of PTAs on the intensity and extensity dimensions of internationalization over post-agreement period in Pakistan and member economies. Gravity index depicts greater concentration of Pakistan's trade in FTA markets and thereby confirms the influence of PTAs on international market selection. Analysis at sectoral level depicts a contraction in services trade whereas expansion in the manufacturing firms’ export growth to member economies.

The paper extends the theory of internationalization by identifying PTAs as exogenous variable influencing internationalization strategies of member countries’ firms in a developing South Asian context. Coupled with findings from empirical data, the study identifies PTAs as a new strategic trade policy tool available to policy makers for promoting and influencing the home firms’ internationalization strategies.

Bilateral trade between Egypt and China has expanded substantially in recent years. Few studies however have focused on the understanding of this trade relationship. The purpose of this paper is to fill a void in the literature by examining and understanding the two countries' trade pattern.

In order to achieve the objectives of the paper, and in the light of the pool of literature and availability of data, the authors relied on qualitative methods to analyze the composition of trade between Egypt and China. In addition, the authors employed trade intensity index, intra‐industry trade index, and examined the trade complementarity to capture the dynamics and perspectives of bilateral trade between the two countries.

Results show low values in Egypt's trade intensity index, implying that Egyptian trade with China is less than it should be. The low values of the intra‐industry trade index suggest smaller trade between the two countries' firms in the same industry. The study clearly shows that there are few areas where there is an overlap in the two countries' comparative advantage. The trade complementarity analysis tends to suggest that the complementarity for China to export to Egypt is increasing, while that for Egypt to export to China is declining.

Given the lack of research that examines and compares trade between the two countries, the paper provides an in‐depth understanding of the patterns of trade between them and the driving forces behind such dynamics, which is pertinent to best capture the opportunities presented by the Chinese market. Also, the findings can be used to draw policy implications for promoting future trade and cooperation between Egypt and China.

Economic theory suggests that the best commercial policy for a country is free trade, regardless of the measures taken by its competitors. This policy, however, has certain drawbacks and consequences. Commitment to free trade subjects the economy to the dictates of events beyond its control, which at times can be detrimental. To maximize the benefits from free trade, therefore, a country must be willing and able to make internal adjustments, as changes in external circumstances require. It must be quick to capitalize on opportunities and yet flexible enough to alter direction in the face of adversity. Both Australia and India had similar trade and industry polices in the 1950s and 1960s.

The aim of this chapter is to develop a strong research base for the academia and the industry to understand the importance of data analytics in International Trade. This chapter focuses on the case of cotton trade from India and explores different methodologies developed by the World Bank and International Trade Center to analyze the Big Data available on export and import. Through Big Data analysis, this chapter attempts to find out the export performance, market demand, export potential, and attractive markets for Indian cotton. This chapter also explores the trade competitiveness of Indian cotton over the years. The data through appropriate analysis can address some simple yet complicated questions in trade like what export potential the commodity holds, if the commodity is competitive or not in international market, what are new markets to look up to, and other similar questions. In other words, this information could make huge difference in decision-making of traders and policymakers directly, and farmers indirectly.

This paper investigates the dynamic patterns of Vietnam’s comparative advantage in the context of ASEAN. Using the Galtonian regression method and the Markov transition probability matrices for data from 1997 to 2008, we find the following: Firstly, commodity groups with a weak comparative advantage improved their competitiveness, whereas those groups with a strong comparative advantage saw it decline, indicating a convergence of their comparative advantages. Secondly, in terms of intra-distribution dynamics, industries with no initial comparative advantage (Class a) and those with a strong initial comparative advantage (Class d) showed a high degree of persistence, suggesting a low degree of mobility in the trade patterns for Classes a and d. Thirdly, mineral resource-intensive products showed a high degree of export specialization, whereas other product categories showed a high degree of export diversification. Fourthly, all commodity groups showed a downward trend in the degree of specialization. Finally, Vietnam’s exports were dominated by unskilled labor-intensive products and agricultural resource-intensive products, reflecting the validity of Heckscher-Ohlin model. As a result of the country’s trade liberalization, the patterns of Vietnam’s comparative advantage have come to reflect its factor endowment. These results suggest that Vietnam could better diversify its export structures and shift to exports based on human capital and technology by further liberalizing its trade policies, fostering human capital formation, and facilitating the transfer of technology.

The objective of this paper is two-fold. First, through the use of two indices that correct for the bias introduced by the relative size of the U.S. economy, it describes the degree of regional dependence reached in the NAFTA area as compared to Europe. Second, it asks whether the stage is set for the successful adoption of a single currency, namely the dollar, within the area. In an attempt to answer this question, the paper identifies the one critical asymmetry that should be addressed before considering the complete monetary integration of the area.

This article examines the impact of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) on Korean exports to ASEAN countries by using the system generalized method of moments. The data covered 15 sectors according to their relative importance in Korean exports and spanned from 1980 to 2006. The estimated results suggest that Korea’s exports were diverted to ASEAN members as a result of the AFTA formation. In 5 of the 15 sectors, the AFTA exerted a significant negative effect on Korean exports to ASEAN countries, but for the remaining 9, the results were mixed and statistically insignificant. The results also indicate that the sectoral approach yields more robust and clear-cut results than the aggregate one.

The focus of this paper is to provide an assessment of the impact of imports from China on Indian manufacturing and capture the multifarious dimensions of India–China bilateral trade flows. By examining the comparative disadvantage imports (RCA<1), the paper critically examines their significance on India's industry output and performance and underlines factors beyond trade competitiveness.

For examining the impact of India's manufacturing imports from China on industry performance, four stages of analysis is adopted. First, the imports with RCA <1 have been identified. For these, BRCA was also computed. Second, trends in industry performance associated with high imports from China. Third, for estimating the impact of imports on industry output, augmented production function was specified and estimated with imports from China as a potential determinant. And fourth, comparison of industry performance between India and China.

The impact of imports from China on industry output is positive and significant. A 1% increase/decrease in the share of China in world imports will result in output increasing by 0.31%. The rise in imports from China seems to be on account of non-availability of necessary intermediate and capital goods domestically, thereby making these imports critical and complementary for production. This negates the threat perception of imports from China.

The paper recognizes the need for understanding the firm heterogeneity in import decisions and R&D intensity of imports. Across industries, the drivers for firms' decisions to import are “learning by importing’ and “self-selection” (Camino-Magro et al., 2020). Also, another important dimension at the firm-level analysis is the elasticity of substitution between foreign and domestic inputs. If the elasticity of substitution is low then high import barriers will lead to reduction of domestic output. These firm-level issues are important for effective policy interventions.

One, the inward looking focus of the industry which is exhibited in low export intensity will not provide the necessary impetus to propel the manufacturing sector to a higher technology frontier and translate the productivity gains to export competitiveness. Two, unless the domestic manufacturing is propelled from the current low/medium technology to high technology products, the current policy thrust on “self-reliance” cannot be realized.

Analysis is based on manufacturing imports with RCA<1 from China thereby underlining factors beyond trade competitiveness not covered by RCA methodology. Complementing the quantitative analysis with economic policy developments in China and India and contrasting the same has provided insights into the real factors determining India–China bilateral trade.

This paper aims to provide new perspectives on the integration of East Asian stock markets and the dynamic volatility transmission to the Bitcoin market utilising daily data from 2014 to 2020.

The authors undertake comprehensive analyses of the dependency dynamics, systemic risk and volatility spillover between major East Asian stock and Bitcoin markets. The authors employ a vine-copula-CoVaR framework and a VAR-BEKK-GARCH method with a Wald test.

(a) With exception of KS11 and N225; HSI and SSE; HSI and KS11, which have moderate dependence, dependencies among other markets are low. In terms of tail risk, the upper tail risk is more significant in capturing strong common variation. (b) Two-way and asymmetric risk spillover effects exist in all markets. The Hong Kong and Japanese stock markets have significant risk spillovers to other markets, and quite notably, the Chinese stock market is the largest recipient of systemic risk. However, the authors observe a more significant risk spillover from the Chinese stock market to the Bitcoin market. (c) The VAR-BEKK-GARCH results confirm that the Korean market is a significant emitter of volatility spillovers. The Bitcoin market does provide diversification benefits. Interestingly, the Chinese stock market has an intriguing relationship with Bitcoin. (d) An increase in spillovers in East Asia boosts spillovers to Bitcoin, but there is no intuitive effect of Bitcoin spillovers on East Asian spillovers.

For the first time, the authors examine the dynamic linkage between Bitcoin and the major East Asian stock markets.