Foreign trade quota

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The trade ratio (also openness ; English foreign trade quota ) is in the international economics an economic indicator that the proportion of the sum of exports and imports the gross domestic product (GDP) of a state describes.

General

In the hypothesis of a closed economy , the economy of economic subjects ( companies , private households and the state ) is examined without the inclusion of foreign countries . A foreign trade quota cannot occur here. The opposite is the open economy - which can be found in reality - which is in business relations with other economies worldwide through exports, imports and merchanting without restrictions and thus takes international economic interdependence into account. With the help of the foreign trade quota it is to be examined how intensive the economic relations with foreign countries are (world market integration).

The concept of trade ratio goes to the Canadian economist Ronald McKinnon back of optimal currency areas in 1963 ( English optimal currency areas ) examined. In his work, however, he neglected territorial states (and only assumed a degree of openness for small states ), inflation transfers , the distinction between tradable and non-tradable goods and a cost-benefit analysis . The foreign trade quota results from the export and import activities of a state, so that it can be understood as the opposite of self-sufficiency . In 1969, Peter B. Kenen showed that if an economy is highly diversified in terms of its export-oriented industry structure, it is not necessary to devalue its own currency, because slumps in demand in one industry are absorbed by other industries.

Alternative definitions

An alternative definition describes the foreign trade quota as “the average of the sum of goods imports and goods exports, measured as a proportion of GDP.” This definition forms the average of imports and exports and sets this in relation to GDP. This leads to the same statement, but the value of the key figure is different. This means that the key figure needs explanation and cannot be immediately compared with evaluations from other sources. The key figure must then first be multiplied by a factor of two to calculate the average

to undo it. Furthermore, only goods are considered in this definition. Often services are also included in the calculation.

In addition, the foreign trade quota can be determined by adding the export and import quota and comparing them with GDP.

However, this article uses the more common calculation of foreign trade turnover.

calculation

Exports are included in the foreign trade quota as soon as they have been paid for by the foreign importer , imports accordingly when they have been paid for by the domestic importer. Both are payments in foreign currency and in domestic currency account. In contrast, the foreign trade quota does not include exports and imports for which a payment term has been agreed. The foreign trade quota only takes into account the movement of goods and services, while it does not include international credit transactions and cross-border capital movements . The foreign trade quota therefore does not reflect all economic transactions of a country with foreign countries.

Under these conditions, the foreign trade quota is usually given as a percentage and uses the currency of the respective country at current prices ( nominal values ). The following formula can be used for the calculation:

The foreign trade quota increases as soon as exports and / or imports increase with constant GDP and vice versa. It should be noted that exports are included in GDP, but not imports.

Economic aspects

The foreign trade quota is suitable for showing the extent of the economic interdependencies between countries. There are mainly interdependencies between the large industrialized countries . The economic vulnerability of small states results primarily from the comparatively high foreign trade quota that these states have. They either lack production capacities to cover domestic demand or lack production efficiency due to a lack of economies of scale . Small states are therefore often import-heavy and have a 54% higher foreign trade quota than large states. However, a high foreign trade quota is not an indicator of the underdevelopment or the high degree of openness of a country, but is mostly due to the small size of the state and population, scarce natural resources or the size of the internal market . An export-oriented state must at floating exchange rates with upward trend expected what a inflationary evolution has resulted. The price stability jeopardized by this is all the more susceptible the more the foreign trade quota increases. In addition, the level of the foreign trade quota also depends on the geographical location and thus the distance to important markets, because a large distance can inhibit trade and tends to reduce the quota.

High odds in individual cases

In individual cases, the foreign trade quota can also exceed GDP, so that quotas of over 100% are possible. Since GDP only records value added domestically, it can happen that small countries export more than is produced in the country and / or import more than is consumed in the country. This is caused by the import of intermediate and preliminary products . These are then further processed in the country and exported again minus the domestic consumption .

Foreign trade quotas internationally

Small states' foreign trade quotas exceeding 100% are statistically verified. In Germany , the foreign trade quota in 1970 was 19.1% and thus at the level of the USA. At that time, the economic ties to other countries were still relatively low. Germany already had a foreign trade quota of 42.4% in 1991; it fell to a low of 34.9% (1993) as a result of reunification , and has increased continuously since then. In 1999 it reached 46.2%, its peak in 2011 was 72.6%, and in 2015 it reached 70.9%. This level shows the intensive international interdependence that has earned Germany its reputation as a world export champion . However, the absolute value of exports and imports is also important here, which is significantly lower for small states. In 2014, Singapore led the foreign trade quota with 253.3%, followed by Belgium (174.2%), the Netherlands (92.6%), Switzerland (83.6%), Germany (69.8%), Denmark and Iceland (60.7%), Canada (52.5%), Spain (49.4%), France (44.4%), China (41.2%), Austria (40.8%), Great Britain (39.9%), Russia (38.7%) or USA (23.2%).

Delimitations

The external contribution is the sum of net exports, the export quota only takes into account exports, and the import quota only takes into account imports in relation to the gross domestic product.

The trade ratio should not be confused with the more commonly known as quota designated trade restrictions in terms of permitted quotas. An import quota is also referred to as an import quota and a voluntary export restriction as an export quota . These terms describe measures by states that are intended to protect domestic producers against foreign competition by restricting imports or exports or to avoid conflicts with other states through high exports.

The term "foreign trade quota" means the share of exports and imports of a single company in the turnover of this company.

Expressiveness

The ratio expressed with the foreign trade quota gives an impression of the international trade links. However, it is not a reliable indicator of the openness of an economy. Whether a country is heavily exposed to international competition can be better reflected in the proportion of "tradable goods", i.e. H. Measure non- real estate and certain services (such as hairdressing services) by GDP.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ronald I. McKinnon: Optimal Currency Areas. In: American Economic Review. 1963, p. 717 ff.
  2. ^ Gertrud Rosa Traud: Optimal currency areas and European integration. 1996, p. 38 ff.
  3. ↑ Peter B. Kenen: The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas: An Eclectic View. In: Robert E Mundell, Alexander K Swoboda (Ed.): Monetary Problems of the International Economy. 1969, pp. 41-60.
  4. ↑ Olivier Blanchard, Gerhard Illing: Macroeconomics. 2006, p. 514.
  5. ↑ a b Olivier Blanchard, Gerhard Illing: Macroeconomics. 2006, p. 515.
  6. ↑ Dieter Farny (ed.): Concise dictionary of insurance. 1988, p. 29.
  7. ↑ Federal Statistical Office (Destatis): Foreign trade quota (including chart). Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  8. ^ Richard N Cooper: Economic Interdependence and Coordination of Economic Policies. In: Ronald Jones, Peter B Kenen (Eds.): Handbook of International Economics. 1983, p. 1195 ff.
  9. ↑ Sebastian Ahlfeld: Small States, Big Problems? On the influence of the size of the country on the development process. 2007, p. 82.
  10. ^ William Easterly , Aart Kraay: Small States, Small Problems? Income Growth and Volatility in Small States. In: World Development. Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 2013-2027.
  11. ↑ Olivier Blanchard, Gerhard Illing: Macroeconomics. 2006, p. 516.
  12. ↑ Statista The Statistics Portal, Germany's foreign trade quota from 1991 to 2015. Accessed on October 26, 2016.
  13. ↑ GTAI Germany Trade & Invest, Compact economic data , foreign trade quotas 2014.
  14. ^ Paul R. Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld: International Economy - Theory and Politics of Foreign Trade. 2006, p. 254.
  15. ↑ Gabler's economic dictionary. 2004, p. 250.

literature

  • Olivier Blanchard, Gerhard Illing: Macroeconomics. 4th edition. 2006, ISBN 3-8273-7209-7 .
  • Gabler's economic dictionary. 16th edition. 2004, ISBN 3-409-12993-6 .
  • Paul R. Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld: International Economy - Theory and Politics of Foreign Trade. 7th edition. 2006, ISBN 3-8273-7199-6 .

Web links

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on May 16, 2008 .