Focusing on India and Pakistan, this article examines their relative performance in sports equipment exports during the 2003–2020 periods. Utilizing secondary trade data available from UN Comtrade, it analyses their performance in sports equipment exports (HS-92) at the six-digit level, mainly to ascertain disparities in export performance at commodity level. Besides drawing inferences about global sports equipment exports (since 1990), it examines sports equipment export performance by tracing the pattern of export composition, export concentration and export growth, along with inferring the incidence of export instability, comparative advantage and trade balance. Indices like Herfindahl–Hirschman index (and its standardized version), Hall–Tideman index, entropy concentration index, Cappock instability index, Cuddy-Della Valle index, Balassa’s measure of comparative advantage and trade balance index are estimated to draw inferences. An analytical exercise indicates that India’s global share has not only declined over time, but it has also been lagging in exporting various types of sports equipment—its comparative advantage has waned over time, whereas such is not the case with Pakistan, which has recorded relatively better performance. A comparative perspective on the nature of the policy framework in both nations is drawn. Moreover, the article examines commodity-wise global dominance of India and Pakistan (in comparison with China) to trace commodities for which these countries have been gaining significance in global markets. Finally, the article urges the Indian State to devote serious attention to strengthening sports goods manufacturing in India, as India is currently facing a trade deficit in the global trade of sports equipment.
AbidinR. Z., OthmanA. R. B., & BakarL. J. A. (2016). The impact of global mind set on firm’s international performance: An empirical study on sports SMEs of Pakistan. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 4(4), 42–49.
2.
AhmedZ. U., & BeckerS. (1999). Elimination of child labour in the soccer ball industry in Sialkot, Pakistan, evaluation report (November 1997 – October 1999), PAK/97/MO1/USA. International Labour Organization.
3.
AndreffM., & AndreffW. (2009). Global trade in sports goods: International specialisation of major trading countries. European Sports Quarterly, 9(3), 259–294.
4.
AndreffW. (2006). The sports good industry, Chapter 3. In AndreffW., & SzymanskiS. (Eds), Handbook on the economics of sport (pp. 27–39). Edward Elgar.
5.
AndreffW., & SzymanskiS. (Eds.) (2006). Handbook on the economics of sport. Edward Elgar.
6.
AtkinD., ChaudhryA., ChaudryS., KhandelwalA. K., RazaT., & VerhoogenE. (2017). On the origins and development of Pakistan’s soccer-ball cluster. The World Bank Economic Review, 30(Supplement 1), S34–S41.
7.
AvilaF., FloresE., Lopez-GalloF., & MarquezJ. (2013). Concentration indicators: Assessing the gap between aggregate and detailed data. In BIS (Ed), Statistical issues and activities in a changing environment (pp. 542–559). Proceedings of the Sixth IFC Conference, Basel, 28–29 August, 2012, IFC Bulletin, No. 36, Bank for International Settlements.
8.
BalG., & JudgeP. S. (2010). Innovation, entrepreneurship and development: A study of the scheduled castes in Punjab. Journal of Entrepreneurship, 19(1), 43–62.
9.
BalassaB. (1965). Trade liberalisation and ‘revealed’ comparative advantage. The Manchester School, 33(2), 99–123.
10.
BardonS. (2008). The economics of sport in China: A maturing sector. China Perspectives, 2008(2008/1), 40–46.
11.
BatraA., & KhanZ. (2005). Revealed comparative advantage: An analysis for India and China (Working Paper No. 168). Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.
12.
BojeD. M., & KhanF. R. (2009). Story-branding by empire entrepreneurs: Nike, child labour and Pakistan’s soccer ball industry. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 22(1), 9–24.
13.
CairnsJ., JennettN., & SloaneP. J. (1986). The economics of professional team sports: A survey of theory and evidence. Journal of Economic Studies, 13(1), 3–80.
14.
CappockJ. D. (1962). International trade and instability. McGraw Hill.
15.
ChatthaI. (2016, November). Artisanal towns: A comparative analysis of industrial growth in Sialkot and Jalandhar. Lahore Journal of Policy Studies, 6(1), 27–46.
16.
ChatthaI. (2021). From mistri to tycoons: Historical advancement of surgical instruments and sports goods in Pakistan. Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society, 34(01), 1–16.
17.
CuddyJ. D. A., & DellaP. A. V. (1978). Measuring the instability of the time series data. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 40, 79–85.
18.
DasK. (Ed). (2014). Globalization and standards: Issues and challenges in Indian business. Springer India.
19.
Dawn. (2018, March01). Modern sports industries centre opening today.
20.
DubeyA. R., & SinghA. K. (2011). Strategic marketing of sports goods in India. Serial Publications.
21.
FirdousiS. (2016). Technology in the Sialkot gloves manufacturing sector. The Lahore Journal of Economics, 21(SE September), 253–272.
22.
GanaiS. G., KhanJ. A., & BhatS. A. (2022). Dynamics of export competitiveness of India and China: A study of HS 6-digit manufacturing exports. Competitive Review (Vol. ahead-of-print). 10.1108/CR-10-2021-0139
23.
Government of Pakistan. (1978). Economic survey of Pakistan 1977–79. Financial Division.
24.
GrattonC., & TaylorP. (1991). Government and the economics of sport. Longman Group UK Ltd.
25.
HallM., & TidemanN. (1967, March). Measures of concentration. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 62(317), 162–168.
26.
HassanF. S., JavaidK., & MajidH. (2014). Pakistan-India bilateral trade in sports goods sector. In TanejaN., & PohitS. (Eds), India-Pakistan trade: Strengthening economic relations (pp. 245–272). Springer India.
27.
Hussain-KhaliqS. (2004). Eliminating child labour from the Sialkot soccer ball industry: Two industry-led approaches. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 13, 101–107.
28.
HussainZ., SiddiqueM. A., BilalU., & HashmiM. S. (2016). Cost efficiency analysis of soccer ball producing firms in Sialkot, Pakistan. Science International, 28(1), 551–556.
29.
HusselbeeD. (2000). NGOs as development partners to the corporates: Child football stitchers in Pakistan. Development in Practice, 10(3–4), 377–389.
30.
ILO. (2004). Economic security for a better world. https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_069016/lang--en/index.htm
31.
JacqueminA., & BerryC. (1979, June). Entropy measure of diversification and corporate growth. The Journal of Industrial Economics, 27(4), 359–369.
32.
JainV. (2021). Sports equipment manufacturing in India: A firm-level inquiry into growth and employment dynamism, Chapter 6. In NagarajR. (Ed), Industrialisation for employment and growth in India: Lessons from small industrial clusters and beyond. Cambridge University Press.
33.
KalraP. (2012). Growth, problems and prospects of sports goods cluster at Jalandhar (Unpublished PhD thesis). Department of Commerce and Business Management, Guru Nanak Dev University.
34.
KazarG., KazarA., & SertT. S. (2018). Bilateral trade in European sports industry: Linder versus Hecksher-Ohlin-Samuelson. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 8(1), 48–63.
35.
KhanF. R., MunirK. A., & WillmottH. (2007). A dark side of institutional entrepreneurship: Soccer balls, child labour and postcolonial impoverishment. Organizational Studies, 28(7), 1055–1077.
36.
KharaN., & DograB. (2009). Examination of export constraints affecting the export performance of the Indian sports goods industry. European Journal of International Management, 3(3), 382–392.
37.
KumarS., SuhaibM., & AsjadM. (2021). A framework for transforming Indian sports goods manufacturing industry. South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, 10(3), 313–326.
38.
LeromainE., & OreficeG. (2014, October). New revealed comparative advantage index: Dataset and empirical distribution. International Economics, 139(1), 48–70.
39.
LiuD., ZhangJ. J., & DesbordesM. (2017). Sport business in China: Current state and prospect. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 18, 1.
40.
NadviK. (2011). Labour standards and technological upgrading: Competitive challenges in the global football industry. International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 4(1/2/3), 235–257.
41.
NadviK., Lund-ThomsenP., XueH., & KharaN. (2011). Playing against China: Global value chains and labour standards in the international sports goods industry. Global Networks, 11(3), 334–354.
42.
NaseemI. (2010). Globalization and its impact on child labour in soccer ball industry in Pakistan. The Dialogue, 4(1), 109–139.
43.
NawazI., AqibM., ShahzadN., YasirM., & ZafarF. (2017). Contribution of sports goods industry towards economic growth of Pakistan. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 4(13), 70–75.
44.
Qurat-ul-AnnA. R., MirzaF. M., & AwanG. W. (2015). Entrepreneurial characteristics and firm growth: A case study of sports industry in Sialkot. The Pakistan Journal of Social Issues, 6, 53–69.
45.
RazaT. (2016, September). Measuring technology differences across football manufacturers in Sialkot. The Lahore Journal of Economics, 21(Special Edition), 237–251.
46.
RhoadesS. (1993). The Herfindahl-Hirschman index. Federal Reserve Bulletin, 79(3), 188–189.
47.
ShahzadK., AslamS., & JavaidA. (2023). Determining competitiveness of Pakistan sports goods industry using revealed comparative analysis. International Journal of Management Research and Emerging Sciences, 13(2), 95–108.
48.
SiegfriedJ., & ZimbalistA. (2000). The economics of sports facilities and their communities. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3), 95–114.
49.
SiegmannK. A. (2008, May31). Soccer ball production for NIKE in Pakistan. Economic and Political Weekly, 43(22), 57–64.
50.
SlackT. (Ed). (2004). The commercialisation of sport. Routledge.
51.
StellianR., & Danna-BuitragoJ. (2019). Revealed comparative advantages and regional specialization: Evidence from Colombia in the Pacific Alliance. Journal of Applied Economics, 22(1), 349–379.
52.
The Economic Times. (2006, May28). DGFT notifies items under focus product scheme.
53.
The Economic Times. (2014, July18). Comptroller and auditor general picks holes in duty entitlement passbook scheme.
54.
UNIDO. (2009). Global value chains, local clusters and corporate social responsibility: A comparative assessment of the sports goods clusters in Sialkot, Pakistan and Jalandhar, India (Technical Paper No. 17). Industrial Policy and Private Sector Development Branch, United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
55.
ZahariaN., MayberK. C., HungenbergE., GrayD., & StotlarD. (2016). Is sport sponsorship global? Evidence from the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 8(3), 43–57.
56.
Zahid-ul-Islam-Dar KaurS., & ChattuV. K. (2023). Barriers to Indo-Pak trade: A case study of land routes. Millennial Asia. 10.1177/09763996231155632
57.
ZhangJ. J., KimE., MarstromartinoB., QianT. Y., & NaurightJ. (2018). The sport industry in growing economies: Critical issues and challenges. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 19(2), 110–126.
