Production processes are fragmenting across borders with countries trading tasks rather than products. Export statistics based on value added reveal a process of vertical specialisation. Yet, what do countries do when exporting? In this article, we provide novel evidence on functional specialisation (FS) in trade. We find surprisingly large and pervasive heterogeneity in specialisation across countries. A positive (negative) correlation between GDP per capita and specialisation in R&D (fabrication) functions is documented. Specialisation in management and marketing functions is unrelated to income. We show how our approach can be easily extended to study FS in trade at the sub-national level. We argue that this is needed to better understand the potential for regional development under global integration.

中文翻译：

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贸易功能专业化

生产过程正在跨越国界，与贸易任务而不是产品的国家之间。基于附加值的出口统计揭示了一个垂直专业化的过程。然而，各国在出口时做了什么？在本文中，我们提供了贸易中功能专业化 (FS) 的新证据。我们发现不同国家的专业化存在惊人的巨大和普遍的异质性。人均 GDP 与研发（制造）职能专业化之间存在正（负）相关性。管理和营销职能的专业化与收入无关。我们展示了我们的方法如何可以很容易地扩展到研究国家以下各级贸易中的金融服务。我们认为，为了更好地了解全球一体化下区域发展的潜力，需要这样做。