Export Performance and Comparative Advantage of India in Healthcare Merchandise Export

Abstract

The present study examines export performance and comparative advantage of India for healthcare merchandise exports from the pre-recession period (2001–03) to the post-recession period (2014–16) at harmonized standard (HS) 6-digit level of product classification. The present study has comprehensively evaluated the data sources, viz. United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade), United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Trade Map. Revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index has been calculated in the study for the analysis. The volume and composition of Indian exports have witnessed a noteworthy change during the past couple of decades. The analysis of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index highlighted that India exhibits an improvement in healthcare merchandise exports which is consistent with the prior literature. In order to sustain in a global competitive market, need of the hour is to design new export promotion strategies at industry level.