Wen-jen Hsieh: The rise of intra-industry trade and global outsourcing in intermediate goods have contributed to the development of trade in value-added, which can be a great complement to conventional statistics in gross value, and to gain a comprehensive analysis of trade patterns. In line with previous studies, this paper examines the global value chains (GVCs) and trade patterns, especially for East Asian countries from 1996 to 2009. The data on bilateral trade in value-added from the World Input Output Database are utilized to provide a more appropriate analysis on East Asian trade in value-added, as compared with the gross value.
The paper is loaded with four research methodologies—the Ricardian model, the Heckscher-Ohlin model, the gravity model, and finally the integration of these three methods by extending the Romalis (2004) model. The attempted goal of achieving robust estimations is admirable, although the inconsistent estimated results could have been...