Indices of Comparative Advantage

315 Pages·2016·12.6 MB·English

Indices of Comparative Advantage:
A Study with Focus on Differences between

Gross Trade and Value-Added Trade

A thesis submitted to Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Submitted By
Kaveri Deb

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Guwahati 781039
India

September 2015
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Dedicated
to
Maa, Baba & Bingo
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Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Department of Humanities & Social Sciences
Guwahati - 781 039
(Assam), INDIA

Declaration
I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Indices of Comparative Advantage: A study with
Focus on Differences between Gross Trade and Value-Added Trade”, is the result of
investigation carried out by me in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian
Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, under the supervision of Dr. Bodhisattva Sengupta,
Assistant Professor (Economics), Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT
Guwahati.
In keeping with the general practice of reporting observations, due acknowledgements have
been made, whenever the work described is based on the findings of other investigators.

(Kaveri Deb)
Research Scholar
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
IIT Guwahati
September, 2015

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Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Department of Humanities & Social Sciences
Guwahati - 781 039
(Assam), INDIA
Bodhisattva Sengupta Phone: [phone]
Asst. Professor Fax: [phone]
(Economics).
E-mail: [email protected]

Certificate
This is to certify that the thesis entitled “Indices of Comparative Advantage: A Study with
Focus on Differences between Gross Trade and Value-Added Trade”, submitted by Ms.
Kaveri Deb for the Doctor of Philosophy in Economics in the Department of Humanities and
Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, embodies research work carried
out under my supervision and guidance. The present thesis, or any part of it, has not been
submitted to any other University or Institute for award of any degree or diploma. She has
fulfilled all the requirements according to the rules of the institute for submission of thesis.

(Bodhisattva Sengupta)
Supervisor
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Acknowledgment
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude towards all those who have immensely helped
me during this long arduous journey and eventually assisted me to emerge as an experienced
researcher and a mature individual.
First and foremost, I must express my deepest sense of appreciation and respect for my thesis
supervisor, Dr. Bodhisattva Sengupta for providing me the opportunity to work under his
supervision. His constant encouragement and constructive criticisms have played a crucial
role in writing the thesis and bringing it to its present form.
I would like to thank my doctoral committee members, Prof. Saundarjya Borbora, Dr. Mrinal
Kanti Dutta, Dr. Debarshi Das and Dr. Rajshree Bedamatta for carefully reading the reports
at various stages of evaluation and providing many useful comments, which have helped in
the development of this thesis.
I whole heartedly appreciate the support and encouragement of other faculty members of the
HSS department. I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of HSS office staff,
Durga Sarma, Bandana Khatanaiar and Parag Kalita for helping me with various academic as
well as non-academic issues.
Words can hardly express how much I owe to Dr. William R. Hauk, Jr. of University of
South Carolina, without whose assistance certain portions of the thesis would have been
difficult. I must also express my sincere gratitude and indebtedness to Prof. John H.
McDermott for providing me the rare opportunity as a visitor at the Economics Department
of Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, for a few months and allowing
me to interact with the faculty members and graduate students. This experience immensely
helped me in broadening my horizon of knowledge and boosting my research potential.
I must express my thanks to Prof. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, Prof. Nityananda Sarkar, Dr. Alex
R. Hoen and Dr. Manisha Chakrabarty for various useful comments on different aspects of
my doctoral work. I would also like to thank Dr. Debashis Chakraborty for his
encouragement and kind words, which motivated me to complete my work as early as
possible.
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I seize this opportunity to express my gratitude towards my erstwhile mentors, Prof. Deepak
Nayyar of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Prof. Partha Basu of Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, for their guidance, which helped me in the initial stages towards
forming the necessary foundations for current research.
It would be unfair if I fail to express my gratitude towards Dr. Pahi Saikia and Dr. Bipul
Bhuyan without whose persuasions and initiatives, I may not have been a part of this
wonderful IITG “HSS family”.
Friends and family form an important part of this long and enduring journey, and without
their constant support and encouragement, the completion of this thesis perhaps would have
been an impossible task. I would therefore be forever be grateful to my closest friends,
Anushree Bhattacharya, Manomohini Dutta, Srobonti Chattopadhyay and Sudatta Banerjee,
for being epitomes of mental and spiritual strength and making sure that I do not lose the
struggling spirit. May God infuse the taste of such true friendship in everyone. Heartfelt
thanks go to Debarati Mitra and Partha Sarathi Mandal for being such close family friends. I
cannot be indebted enough to my departmental friends, Pranti, Bandana, Nirmala, Munmi,
Mahsina, Gunjan, Baban, Hemanta, Nabanita, Madhuri, Pankaj for many academic and non-
academic discussions. I also thank other research scholars for creating such a cordial and
friendly environment in the research scholar lab. Finally, I am thankful to my parents, in-
laws and other family members, who have been a constant source of love, encouragement
and support. Udit, Baba and Api... I cannot express how much grateful I am to you all, for
always being at my side and help me battle through all the hurdles in making my dream come
true.

(Kaveri Deb)

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