(Анализ конкурентоспособности Турции и БРИКС по выявленным сравнительным преимуществам (2008-2019 гг.)

Globalization and regionalization have had a significant impact on national economies, especially on foreign trade. Both globalization and regionalization require liberalization of world trade, which increases competition between countries and may lead to some countries being unable to adapt. As a result, many developing countries, including the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and Turkey, have created economic unions to transform the process in their favor.

This study measures the competitiveness of BRICS and Turkey and aims to determine the production areas where they have a competitive advantage. The authors used Balassa's Revealed Comparative Advantages (RCA) index calculations, covering the period of 2008-2019. The data was obtained from the United Nations, and the evaluation was made over ten different commodity groups using the Standard International Trade Classification SITC-Rev 4 classification.

The findings show that Turkey has a competitive advantage over all of the BRICS countries in only one commodity group: “Food and Livestock Group”. Another commodity group that provides a competitive advantage for Turkey in Turkey-BRICS foreign trade is “Machinery and Transportation Vehicles Goods Group.” In this group, Turkey cannot achieve a competitive advantage only against China. This commodity group is also the commodity group that is outstanding in Turkey's exports.

The commodity group in which Turkey has the least competitive advantage against BRICS countries is “Crude Materials, Inedible, Except Fuels.” Turkey has a competitive advantage against China and India in this group, but not against Brazil, Russia, and South Africa. The study reveals that BRICS countries, especially Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, transform their natural resource wealth into a competitive advantage, while China and India transform their existing labor intensity into an advantage in different commodity groups. Turkey's factor endowment exhibits similar characteristics to China and India, indicating that these two countries are Turkey's real competitors.

Lasly, authors suggest that to increase Turkey's competitiveness against BRICS countries, policymakers should not rely solely on RCA values for main commodity groups. Instead, commodity groups with the strongest competitive advantage against BRICS should be evaluated together with sub-commodity groups. Further studies are needed to focus on the sub-commodity groups of “Food and Livestock” and “Machinery and Transport Equipment,” and real foreign trade and competition policies should be determined after this process.

Resource: Nurdan Kusat, Ece Atlas Denli, “Turkey - BRICS competitiveness analysis according to revealed comparative advantage (2008-2019)”, KOCATEPEİİBFD 23(1) Haziran/June 2021. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/akuiibfd/issue/62585/839333.