Investigating the Competitiveness of Pakistan Agricultural Products

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 2, 39 - 57, 05.02.2024

Ramu Govındasamy , Zeki Bayramoğlu , Shahan Aziz , Ufuk Soysal

Öz

In a world where the free-market economy prevails, there is significant emphasis placed on the competitiveness of countries, companies, products, and individuals. This topic is widely discussed among academic, commercial, and public authorities. Competitiveness plays a crucial role in development, growth, commercial expansion, income generation, socio- economic welfare, and other important parameters. In fact, countries with high competitiveness tend to offer better socioeconomic welfare to their populations, making it a top priority in their agendas and objectives.
Competitive strategies vary depending on factors such as the product, region, time, and market structure. The market structure for agricultural products differs from that of other products, and ecological factors pose significant limitations on agricultural production. The primary goals of countries are to internationally market their products beyond ecological limitations at a favorable price, while also procuring goods they cannot produce without disrupting the domestic market. In order to achieve this, it is crucial to establish and maintain a competitive advantage in foreign trade. Consequently, the functioning of the free-market economy, which involves approximately 174 countries, is widespread worldwide. It is known that multiple countries produce the same product, and each country possesses competitive advantages such as price, quality, location, cultural and political relations, and economic power.
This study focuses on examining the competitiveness of important agricultural products grown in the province of Pakistan. The reduction of trade barriers creates competitive pressures and has the potential to lead to productivity gains, allowing for the restructuring of an economy towards its comparative advantage. To accomplish this, import and export data from the past 20 years will be utilized. In determining the competitiveness of Pakistan’s agricultural products, various formulations explaining absolute and relative competitive advantages, such as RCA, RXA, RMA, and RTM, will be employed.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Agricultural Products, Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index, Pakistan

Kaynakça

• Akter, S., & Alam, M. J. (2018). Global Demand for Rice: Trends and Determinants. Journal of Rice Research, 6(2), 1-10.
• Ali, A., & Ali, M. (2001). Wheat self-sufficiency in different policy scenarios and their likely impacts on producers, consumers, and the public exchequer. The Pakistan Development Review, 203-223.
• Amiti, M. (1998). New trade theories and industrial location in the EU: a survey of evidence. Oxford review of economic policy, 14(2), 45-53.
• Anwar, S., Shaukat, F., & Hussain, Z. (2010). Impact of trade liberalization on export of cotton from Pakistan: a time series analysis. Sarhad Journal of agriculture, 26(2), 297-304.
• Balassa, B. (1965). Trade Liberalisation and 'Revealed' Comparative Advantage. The Manchester School, 33(2), 99-123.
• FAO. (2020). Competitiveness in the Agriculture and Agribusiness Sector. Food and Agriculture Organization. https://www.fao.org/3/cb0044en/cb0044en.pdf
• Farooq, U., Iqbal, M., & Bashir, Z. (2000). Attaining and Maintaining Self-sufficiency in Wheat Production: Institutional Efforts and Farmers' Limitations [with Comments]. The Pakistan Development Review, 487-514.
• Garcia, L. A., & Mendoza, J. G. (2019). Factors Influencing Maize (Corn) Trade Dynamics: An Empirical Analysis. Agricultural Economics, 69(3), 131-144.
• Ghauri, P. N. (2020). Pakistan's Trade Relations with China: Trends and Prospects. Journal of Contemporary China, 29(124), 351-366.
• Greenaway, D. and C. Milner (1993), Trade and Industrial Policy in Developing Countries: A Manual of Policy Analysis, The Macmillan Press, esp. Part IV Evaluating Comparative Advantage, 181-208.
• Grote, U., Fasse, A., Nguyen, T. T., & Erenstein, O. (2021). Food security and the dynamics of wheat and maize value chains in Africa and Asia. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 4, 617009.
• Haider, S., et al. (2019). Factors Affecting Cotton Exports from Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis. Journal of Cotton Research and Development, 33(1), 1-9.
• Hinloopen, J., & Van Marrewijk, C. (2001). On the empirical distribution of the Balassa index. Weltwirtschaftliches archiv, 137(1), 1-35.
• Irshad, M. S., Xin, Q., & Arshad, H. (2018). Competitiveness of Pakistani rice in international market and export potential with global world: A panel gravity approach. Cogent Economics & Finance, 6(1), 1486690.
• Khan, A., & Ahmad, S. (2017). The Role of Wheat in Global Food Supply: A Comprehensive Review. International Journal of Agricultural Economics, Management, and Development, 7(2), 71-79.
• Kiani, A., Ijaz, F., & Siddique, H. M. A. (2018). Determinants of Agricultural Exports of Pakistan: An Application of Gravity Model. Dialogue (Pakistan), 13(4).
• Lall, S. (2001). Competitiveness indices and developing countries: an economic evaluation of the global competitiveness report. World development, 29(9), 1501-1525.
• Maqbool, M. S., Mahmood, T., Hussain, S., & Ashraf, M. (2020). Analysis of trade competitiveness of Pakistan cereal products in global perspective. Review of Economics and Development Studies, 6(1), 97-106.
• Mellor, J. W. (2015). Agriculture on the Road to Industrialization. In Transforming the Rural Nonfarm Economy (pp. 53-69). Routledge.
• Mustafa, K., & Asghar, N. (2019). An Analysis of Pakistan's Trade Relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 7(11), 4-13.
• Ouyang, J., & Tang, L. (2017). Global Cotton Trade Dynamics and the Importance of Cotton in the Textile Industry. Textile Research Journal, 87(3), 343-359.
• Porter, M. E. (1990). The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Free Press. Proudman, J., & Redding, S. (2000). Evolving patterns of international trade. Review of international economics, 8(3), 373-396.
• Redding, S. (2002). Specialization dynamics. Journal of International Economics, 58(2), 299-334. State Bank of Pakistan. (2020). Annual Report 2019-20. State Bank of Pakistan. [Full Reference: https://www.sbp.org.pk/reports/annual/arFY20/AR2 01920-English.pdf]
• Tanumihardjo, S. A., McCulley, L., Roh, R., Lopez- Ridaura, S., Palacios-Rojas, N., & Gunaratna, N. S. (2020). Maize agro-food systems to ensure food and nutrition security in reference to the Sustainable Development Goals. Global Food Security, 25, 100327.
• UNCTAD. (2019). Trade and Development Report 2019: Financing a Global Green New Deal. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. https://unctad.org/system/files/official- document/tdr2019_en.pdf
• World Bank. (2021). Pakistan Economic Update: Resilience in a Time of Uncertainty. World Bank. https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/do cuments- reports/documentdetail/945041622173295611/pakis tan-economic-update-resilience-in-a-time-of- uncertainty
• Vollrath, T. L. (1987). Revealed competitive advantage for wheat. Economic Research Service Staff Report (US Department of Agriculture) AGES861030.
• Vollrath, T. L. (1989). Competitiveness and protection in world agriculture. Agriculture Information Bulletin (US Department of Agriculture) 567.
• Zafar, A., Zaidi, S. Z. H., Hayat, K., Shahzad, M. A., & Kamran, R. (2016). Economic Analysis of Factors Affecting Cotton Production in Pakistan. Research Journal of Innovative Ideas and Thoughts, 4(1), 12- 18.
• Zhang, W., & Wilson, A. (2023). From self-regulated learning to computer-delivered integrated speaking testing: Does monitoring always monitor? Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1028754–1028754. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1028754