Internationalisation of the mid-tech sector. The case of Polish trade in the automotive industry between 2004–2012

Abstract

The automotive industry is one of the most important sectors for Polish total exports and imports in terms of value, as well as the factor of trade intensity trade. The paper is aimed at verifying the hypothesis according to which the sector covered in this research does not strengthen the capital intensity of Polish exports and fosters international division of labour between centres and semi-peripheries. Thus, the issues raised here are considered in the context of the middle income trap. The author analysed trade streams in Polish exports and imports through the changes in their structure, evolution of revealed comparative advantages (RCA), import penetration (IMP), revealed advantages in trade (RTA), trade balance and the level of intra-industry trade (IIT) together with an attempt to distinguish the shares of vertical and horizontal exchange. For the purpose of the research, data at the 4- and 6-digit disaggregation level of the Harmonised System were used. As a middle income country Poland is still an attractive location for foreign investments of multinational companies. However, it may preserve the developmental gap. This may be proven by the structure of the trade in the sector covered: cars and parts and accessories of motor vehicles are the most dominant sections, which is consistent with the level of revealed comparatives advantages and revealed advantages in trade. What is also worth noticing are the trade relations with Germany, where one can easily identify a technological dependency.