• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.65-83
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• 2022

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic effects of FTAs using the concept of value-added exports. So far, the economic effects of FTAs have been dependent on decrease in import prices due to tariff cuts in importing countries, but the actual tariff reduction need to consider the value added of the exporting countries. Design/methodology - Value-added export refers to the added value created in the exporting country out of total exports. Among value-added exports, direct value-added export is interpreted as the Regional Value Contents (RVC), from which the economic effect of the FTA can be analyzed. A modified GTAP-VA model takes into account RVC in order to estimate accurate effects of FTAs. Findings - By the re-evaluation of the FTA based on the RVC, this paper makes it clear that the economic effects of the existing FTA methodology have the possibility of overestimation. In addition, as a new FTA with a strengthened Rules of Origin (ROO) is being initiated, a negative impact on international trade and GVC utilization may occur. Originality/value - This study introduces the concept of value-added export in analyzing the effects of FTAs. The new analysis methodology of this paper emphasizes the importance of value-added exports. Re-organization of GVCs would change regional trade agreements and empower ROO by weakening existing GVCs and transforming the value chain from global into regional scope.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.1-22
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• 2018

Utilizing OECD-WTO's Trade in Value Added (TiVA) data, this study investigates the effects of economic integration (EI) on TiVA Empirical results obtained from structural gravity specifications reveal that EI increases trade between member countries, irrespective the types of exports in final goods and intermediate goods as well as foreign value added in total exports and domestic value added in total exports. The empirical results also reveal that EI does not decrease the share of domestic value added in total exports.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.107-125
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• 2019

This study analyzes the effects of FDI on the global value chain (GVC) using participation and export value added using panel data from 2005 to 2016 for 63 countries. This study used the GLS method. Results are as follows: First, foreign direct investment had a positive impact on the global value chain (GVC) participation and export value added of non-OECD economies. Furthermore, tariff rates were more sensitive to non-OECD countries than OECD countries. In addition, logistics infrastructure had a negative impact on global value chain (GVC) participation and export value added, while developed countries, such as OECD countries, with good infrastructure, had a positive impact on non-OECD countries. Finally, research and development costs have been shown to play a very important role in non-OECD countries. This study found that various service sectors, such as research and development (R & D) as well as the general manufacturing industry, are expanding beyond two countries to form global value chains (GVC) in which several countries are connected from production to consumption.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1-13
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• 2019

Purpose - This study deals with a strategic plan for meeting the value added criteria effectively, which is one of the methods of determining origin used in preferential trade such as FTA. Automobile products, one of the major Korean export items, were selected to give a practical use against the FTA requirements. Design/methodology - This study is based on the value-added criteria of the Korea-US and Korea-EU FTAs that apply various value-added criteria. The Korea-US FTA adopts the RVC method based on the integration, deduction and net cost methods, while the MC method is employed in the Korea-EU FTA. The methodology used in this work is an extended literature review, analysis of the value-added criteria applied to automobile products under Korea-US and Korea-EU FTA with some secondary statistics. Findings - Based on in - depth analysis of the value - added criteria requirements for automobile products stipulated in the Korea - US FTA and the Korea - EU FTA, two strategic considerations are suggested. First is 'appropriate value-added strategy' and the second is 'strategy of changing production and trade structure'. The second strategy is a bit used in Korea but this is not considered best if the first strategy is ignored or forgotten. The second one is meaningful when this becomes inevitable. Research limitations/implications - This study is primarily designed to assist Korean auto mobile industry players exporting to EU and USA but this may help to auto part or material producers in FTA counter party territories being EU or USA as the preferential tariffs are applied on a inter region basis. A further research other than auto mobiles using other major FTAs might be followed later. Originality/value - There has been so far little research on strategic factors to meet the value-added origin requirements. This study, therefore, is expected to contribute facilitating the decision of FTA origin and to improve the utilization of FTA by allowing exporting companies using value added criterion to more smoothly meet origin requirements. This will also enable the tax authorities to utilize the value-added criterion to validate effectively the origin of imports where preferential tariffs are applied.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.103-114
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• 2019

Purpose - This paper investigates the structure of exports across countries in terms of value added. Exports value added is examined under two categories, domestic and overseas. Using a statistical classification method by distance based on these two value added categories, this paper estimates the similarity of exports value added across countries including Korea. Design/methodology - The model of study is to employ a generalized distance function and then derive the Manhattan and Euclidean distances. The paper also performs cluster analysis using the Partitioning Around Medoids (PAM) and hierarchical methods to classify the 44 sample countries considered in this study. Findings - Our main findings are as follows. The 44 countries can be classified under 5 groups by their domestic and overseas value added in exports. Korea has a sandwich global value chains (GVCs) position between Japan, China, and Taiwan in the East Asian region. Originality/value - Existing papers point out the double counting problem of trade statistics as the intermediate goods trade across borders increases. This paper addresses the double counting problem by using the World Input-Output Table. The paper shows the need to explore the similarity of value added in exports structure across countries and investigate the GVCs position and role of each country.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.207-220
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• 2019

In the context of export-oriented growth strategy, Korea has promoted the conclusion of FTAs and 16 FTAs have entered into force or concluded so far. Despite of these efforts, the expansion of the global value chain (GVC) has resulted in fragmentation of production processes and international companies have been struggling to meet the criteria for determining the rule of origin. In order to overcome these difficulties, some foreign FTAs have been introducing cross-cumulation of origin. In this paper, we try to examine empirically whether the easing of the rules of origin using cross-cumulation contributes to the increase in actual value-added exports. we quantify the effects of cross-cumulation included in the EU-Vietnam FTA on Korean exports of the textile through a gravity model using the concept of value-added export. Based on the analysis results, the proportion of value-added exports in Vietnam increased by adoption of cross-cumulation of origin, which consequently resulted into an increase in total exports. This paper tries to draw several implications for the rules of origin in Korea's FTAs including cross-cumulation considering the export value chain of Korea.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.97-121
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• 2016

This study evaluates industrial competitiveness of 34 industries in the 41 countries in terms of several trade indices such as value-added RCA(VRCA) and value added intra-industry trade(VIIT). Conclusions are as follows: First, China is still showing week evidence to replace or overtake Korea in terms of VRCA. Second, it is not supportive of the assertion that the gap between Japan and South Korea had widened in the 1995-2011 period. Third, Korea's exports pattern in the manufacturing sector has shifted from the one featured by developing countries(re-exportation of final goods produced using imported intermediate inputs) to that of the developed (exportation of intermediate goods). According to dynamic panel analysis regressing the RCA gap on the IIT gap, intermediate-goods RCA and the market share gap, the estimated coefficient of the gap between value-added IIT and gross IIT is 0.253 and statistically significant at the 2% level. This implies that increases in IIT or intermediate-goods trade to sustain the global competitiveness are the main reasons for the gap between value-added RCA and gross RCA.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.1-18
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• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study how flexibility and mutuality in determining trade terms impact logistics efficiency in the context of relational theory. Additionally, the effect of relational contracts on logistical efficiency relative to the value of the goods being traded is investigated. Design/methodology - According to the relational contract theory, we developed 17 factors utilizing a 7-point Likert scale to measure variables related to flexibility, mutuality, logistics efficiency, and the added value of goods. The survey occurred over four months, and was distributed directly, and via email, phone, and online Google surveys. A total of 403 surveys were collected out of 1,800 distributed, and 380 were analyzed. The principal respondents were import/export companies and members of the Korea International Trade Association and the Korea Small and Medium Business Export-Import Association. The collected data were analyzed using frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and correlation analysis using SPSS ver. 26.0 statistical software, and hypothesis test results were derived using Process Macro ver. 3.5. Findings - This study provides evidence that negotiation flexibility for trade terms affects the efficiency of the logistics process, and the mutuality of such arrangements is shown to be associated with the flexibility and efficiency of logistics processes. Additionally, it has been established that companies whose trade goods possess a low degree of added value may experience increased efficiency in logistics operations if they agree to trade terms that are both flexible and mutually beneficial with their counterparts. Originality/value - This study suggests that in an environment of rapidly shifting global logistics and unpredictable related costs, trade companies may be able to improve logistics efficiency by establishing flexible, mutually beneficial trade terms when entering into contracts. Furthermore, it is suggested that companies dealing in low-value-added products may improve the logistical performance of approaching trade from a perspective of relational contracts.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.95-112
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• 2021

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) signed by the 15 Asian countries in 2020 forms the world's largest free trading bloc. Using data for the period 2001 - 2019, this study evaluates global value chains (GVCs) among the RCEP members, with a primary focus on GVC backward participation which involves imports intermediates embodied in exports. This study finds that the RCEP's intra-regional linkages, particularly with the ASEAN members, are significantly higher than its extra-regional linkages in trade and GVC backward participation. Among the individual RCEP member countries, Korea is found to have a particularly strong intra-regional linkages with the ASEAN members in both trade and GVC participation.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.459-469
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• 2021

Until now, research on inter-Korean economic cooperation and economic integration has been limited to the areas of the two Koreas. However, Korea is connected with many countries in Asia through the global value chain. Thus, if inter-Korean trade deepens, it may affect the trade structure of neighboring countries. In order to establish a specific inter-Korean economic integration policy when North Korea becomes a normal state in the future, an analysis that reflects the trade structure including Northeast Asia must be preceded. Therefore, in this paper, the impact of inter-Korean trade on Korea, China and Japan was analyzed using the international input and output table containing actual trade data. The scope of analysis was limited to agriculture, reflecting North Korea's demand for economic cooperation. The results show that trade in the agricultural sector between the two Koreas did not have a significant effect of production and value added. but when China and Japan participate in trade with North Korea, the production effect was calculated to be as high as 4 million dollars in Korea and up to 10 million dollars in Japan. And China showed up to 520 million dollars. In addition, the value-added effect was calculated up to $1 million in Korea, up to $4 million in Japan, and up to $250 million in China.