Intra-Industry, Intra-Product, and Inter-Product Trade

The study starts with clarifying the distinction between intra-product and inter-product trade as origins of intra-industry trade. The empirical analysis shows that over the last half century intra-industry trade has strongly intensified, though this trend became less pronounced during the last two decades. Intra-industry trade characterizes the trade flows of Europe distinctly more than of any other major geographical region. It is clearly related to a country's level of per-capita income; to its size, as measured by aggregate income; to the share of the manufacturing sector in the country's trade; and, most strongly, to the level of commodity diversification of a country's trade.