Outlook on the global trade competitiveness of Pakistan's mandarin industry: An application of revealed symmetric comparative advantage framework

Competitiveness is the ability to trade products that meet the requirements of global demand for better price, quality, and quantity. International competition in the agricultural and food industries has been significantly increased due to globalization. Furthermore, labor-intensive countries are losing competitiveness due to lack of local value addition and other development efforts. This study aims to examine the competitiveness of the mandarin industry for the world's 15 leading mandarin exporters using revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA). An attempt was also made to assess the effect of productivity growth and real effective exchange rate on the competitiveness of the mandarin industry through panel regression analysis. The results showed that RSCA patterns vary between the selected countries and only five countries, that is, Morocco, Spain, Pakistan, Turkey, and Peru have a comparative advantage in mandarin exports while all other countries have a comparative disadvantage. The highest change in the RSCA value was seen for Pakistan which gives a good indication of the status of the country in the development of its mandarin industry. For Pakistan, there is a need to explore the new high-value market to further exploit this comparative advantage and to increase export earnings.