Determinants of Export Specialization in ICT Products: A Cross-Country Analysis

In this paper the determinants of ICT export specialization are investigated with a panel- econometric analysis, which includes 28 countries. ICT exports are broken down into three broad ICT product groups (electronic data processing machines, integrated circuits and electronic components, and telecommunications equipment), and the determinants are examined for each of the above product categories. Our results indicate that technology factors, such as Research & Development expenditure and human capital constitute significant determinants. However, other deterministic factors, related to more recent trade theories, seem to be relatively more important.