台灣出口產品品質的演進

Abstract

本文使用美國 1989年至 2010年海關資料解析台灣出口品在美國進口市場的品質變化。 我們發現, 台灣整體在1989至2010年間出口結構朝向長品質階梯的產品調整, 然而台灣整體出口品與世界上品質領先者的差距則明顯擴大。 這一方面是源於台灣在既有出口品品質優勢流失, 另一方面也由於台灣朝向原不具品質優勢產品轉型。 我們針對三個大分類產業的實證分析顯示儘管不同技術密集程度的產業皆呈現品質階梯長度上升且產業前緣趨近指標下降的態勢, 但其演化的時程及其成因不盡相同。

This paper uses disaggregated U.S. product-level trade data to investigate the evolution of product quality among Taiwanese exported goods between 1989 and 2010. Our results suggest that during the sample period, while Taiwanese exports became more focused on products with longer quality ladders, they also fell further away from the world quality frontiers. This occurs because Taiwanese lost their quality advantage in existing products, and also because Taiwanese attempted to make a transition to products they initially did not have advantage in. We also study the evolution of product quality in different sectors, and our results suggest that while the trends look similar across sectors, there appears to be substantial heterogeneity in terms of the actual timing and causes.