Subramanian, ArvindMattoo, Aaditya2012-03-192012-03-192009-09-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4239This paper documents an unusual and possibly significant phenomenon: the export of skills, embodied in goods, services or capital from poorer to richer countries. The authors first present a set of stylized facts. Then, using a measure that combines the sophistication of a country s exports with the average income level of destination countries, they show that the performance of a number of developing countries - notably China, Mexico and South Africa - matches that of much more advanced countries - such as Japan, Spain and the United States. The authors create a new combined dataset on foreign direct investment (covering greenfield investment as well as mergers and acquisitions). The analysis shows that flows of foreign direct investment to developed countries from developing countries - like Brazil, India, Malaysia and South Africa - as a share of their GDP, are as large as flows from developed countries - like Japan, Korea and the United States. The authors suggest that it is not just the composition of exports but their destination that matters. In both cross-sectional and panel regressions, with a range of controls, a measure of uphill flows of sophisticated goods is significantly associated with better growth performance. These results suggest the need for a deeper analysis of whether the benefits of development might derive not from deifying comparative advantage but from defying it.CC BY 3.0 IGOADVANCED COUNTRIESAFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONSAPARTHEIDBALANCE OF PAYMENTSBANK POLICYBENEFITS OF TRADECAPITAL STOCKCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVENESSCOUNTRY FIXED EFFECTSCOUNTRY TO COUNTRIESDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRYDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDISCLOSUREDISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTSDOMESTIC PRODUCERSECONOMIC INTEGRATIONECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIES OF SCALEEMERGING MARKETEMERGING MARKET COUNTRIESEMERGING MARKETSEMERGING MULTINATIONALSEQUILIBRIUMEXPORT BASKETEXPORT FLOWSEXPORT PRODUCTIONEXPORTERSEXPORTSFINANCIAL FLOWSFIXED COSTSFLOWS OF CAPITALFOREIGN CAPITALFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN FIRMSFOREIGN MARKETSFOREIGN PRODUCERSFOREIGN TRADEGDPGDP PER CAPITAGLOBALIZATIONGROWTH THEORIESHUMAN CAPITALIMPERFECT COMPETITIONIMPORTSINCOMEINCOME LEVELINDUSTRIAL COUNTRIESINSTRUMENTINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINVESTINGINVESTMENT PROJECTSLOW INTEREST RATESMARKET STRUCTUREMERGERSMICRO DATAOFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTERSPER CAPITA INCOMEPER CAPITA INCOMESPRODUCT DIFFERENTIATIONPRODUCTIVITYRETURNSRULE OF LAWSAVINGSSTOCKSTECHNOLOGY TRANSFERTRADE DATATRADE MODELSTRADINGTRANSACTIONTRUST FUNDVIRTUOUS CYCLEWAGESWORLD INVESTMENT REPORTWORLD TRADEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5047