VSTE
Littera Scripta

ISSN (online): 1805-9112

Open access

Analysis of the Competitiveness of Cuba and its Comparison with Selected Countries in Central America and the Caribbean

Petr Šmelc1*

  1. University of Economics, Faculty of International Relations, Department of International Business, Prague, Czechia

* Corresponding author: petr.smelc@cnb.cz

Abstract

The foreign sector of the Cuban economy was dominated by sugar exports until the early 1990s, but its volume fell sharply after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the associated loss of major consumer markets. Since then, Cuba has suffered from a chronic trade deficit, which has been around 10% of the country’s GDP in recent years. The aim of this article is to assess the development of competitiveness of the Cuban economy and its comparison with selected countries within the region (Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua). The analysis of the selected indicators shows the low level of competitiveness and comparative advantages of Cuba when compared to all of the other countries covered in this review, but at the same time it shows the existence of revealed comparative advantages in the hi-tech industries, which also confirms the comparison of values of the so-called Balassa Index.

Keywords:CubaCompetitivenessComparative AdvantageInternational MarketBalassa Index

References

  1. Abbas, S., & Waheed, A. (2017). Trade competitiveness of Pakistan: Evidence from the revealed comparative advantage approach. Competitiveness Review, 27(5), 462–475. https://doi.org/10.1108/CR-12-2015-0092
  2. Alejandro, P. V. (2020). Where the Cuban economy stands in Latin America: A new measurement of gross domestic product. Cuban Studies, 49.
  3. Balassa, B. (1965). Trade liberalisation and revealed comparative advantage. The Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies, 33.
  4. Batra, A., & Khan, Z. (2005). Revealed comparative advantage: An analysis for India and China (Working Paper No. 168). Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.
  5. Bender, S., & Li, K.-W. (2002). The changing trade and revealed comparative advantages of Asian and Latin American manufacture exports (Center Discussion Paper No. 843). Economic Growth Center, Yale University. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.28478
  6. Bonnett, E. T., Taylor, T. G., & Messina, W. A. (2001). Cuba: A view of revealed export advantage. Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy. Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy source
  7. Czarny, E., & Żmuda, M. (2018). Competitiveness as the ability to adjust: The EU-10 exports. Comparative Economic Research, 21(1).
  8. Czech Statistical Office. (n.d.). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved January 5, 2020, from Czech Statistical Office
  9. Cárdenas, A. (2009). The Cuban biotechnology industry: Innovation and universal health care. Institute for Institutional and Innovations Economics, University of Bremen.
  10. Čapek, A., Hájek, M., & Mertlík, P. (2002). Konkurenceschopnost české ekonomiky [Competitiveness of Czech economy]. University of Economics.
  11. Economist Intelligence Unit. (2019). Democracy index 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2020, from Economist Intelligence Unit
  12. Hernández-Catá, E. (2019). Cuba’s swaps of petroleum for doctors and the impact of cutbacks in Venezuelan oil deliveries. Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy. Retrieved February 1, 2020, from ASCE Cuba PDF
  13. Kubišta, V., et al. (2009). Mezinárodní ekonomické vztahy [International economic relations]. Fraus.
  14. Mesa-Lago, C. (2019). The Cuban economy after six decades of socialism: Changes, continuities and worsening crisis. Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy. Retrieved February 2, 2020, from ASCE Cuba PDF
  15. Mortimore, M., & Peres, W. (2001). Corporate competitiveness in Latin America and the Caribbean. CEPAL Review, 74, 35–57. https://doi.org/10.18356/96d9108c-en
  16. OECD. (n.d.). High, medium and low technology exports. OECD.Stat. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from OECD.Stat
  17. Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información. (2019). Anuario estadístico de Cuba 2018: Agricultura, ganadería, silvicultura y pesca.
  18. Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información. (2019). Anuario estadístico de Cuba 2018: Cuentas nacionales.
  19. Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información. (2019). Anuario estadístico de Cuba 2018: Sector externo.
  20. Observatory of Economic Complexity. (n.d.). The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Retrieved January 17, 2020, from OEC
  21. Pérez-López, J. (2016). The restructuring of the Cuban sugar agroindustry: A progress report. Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from ASCE Cuba source
  22. Pollitt, H. (2004). The rise and fall of the Cuban sugar economy. Journal of Latin American Studies, 36, 319–348.
  23. Şahinli, M. A. (2013). Comparative advantage of agriculture sector between Turkey and European Union. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 8(10), 884–895.
  24. Svatoš, M., et al. (2009). Zahraniční obchod, teorie a praxe [Foreign trade, theory and practice]. Grada Publishing.
  25. Spadoni, P. (2014). Cuba’s socialist economy today: Navigating challenges and change. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
  26. Štěrbová, L., et al. (2013). Mezinárodní obchod ve světové krizi 21. století [International trade in the world crisis of the 21st century]. Grada Publishing.
  27. Torres, N. G. (2018). Cuba is a lot poorer than the government reports, a new study shows. Miami Herald. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from Miami Herald article
  28. United Nations. (2019). World economic situation and prospects 2019. United Nations. United Nations report
  29. World Bank. (n.d.). Open data. Retrieved February 1, 2020, from World Bank Open Data
  30. Worrell, D., Greenidge, K., & Lowe, S. (2013). Competitiveness in the Caribbean and Central America. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 109.