africa

Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
16.2.3 What really matters: From the value of trade to the value for trade
In the domain of trade statistics, the OECD and the WTO have developed a Trade
in Value-Added (TiVA) database that records the value of imports and domestic
production in exports. The new data help to shed new light on global imbalances
(see the iPhone example in Figure 16.2) and also emphasize that public policymakers
in Africa should see their countries’ trade and participation in GVCs as just
intermediary objectives. For African countries, joining GVCs and participating in
global trade is not enough. The question is how much value they can capture in
terms of jobs, income, technology diffusion, sustainable development, etc. In Africa
and elsewhere, one should look at how trade affects:
• direct and indirect job creation;
• sustainable use of natural resources;
• level and predictability of income;
• economic and social development;
• diffusion of technology; and
• political and economic stability.
Figure 16.2: From Nominal Value of Trade to Trade in Value-Added: the Example
of the iPhone US Trade Deficit to China
Source: Cattaneo and Miroudot (2015).
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