Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 
Title: The gravity of electromobility. An early investigation of structural change in automotive industry
Author-Name: Jan Baran 
Author-Name: Patryk Czechowski 
Author-Name: Jakub Mućk 
Abstract: In this paper we examine the role of the electromobility transformation for exports of the automotive sector. To do so, we propose a novel mapping of granular codes of automotive products into three categories: (i) combustion-specific, (ii) neutral, and (iii) electric-specific. We estimate a standard gravity model of the trade flows of automotive products, comparing the three categories with each other. We demonstrate that key drivers of export of the electric-specific products are similar to the combustion-specific ones. However, exports related to electric vehicles are more technologically intensive and supported by either a domestic R&D potential or international knowledge spillovers through FDI. In particular, export-oriented production of electric-specific intermediates proves to be to a large extent R&D intensive. Our results also suggest that the ongoing structural change in the automotive industry leads rather to intra-industry reorganization than to more fundamental restructuring of existing Global Value Chains.
Number: 2026-122
Length: 44 pages 
Creation-Date: 2026-03
Keywords: automotive industry, international trade, gravity model of trade, structural change, electric vehicles, electromobility, Global Value Chains
Classification-JEL: F14, L16, L62
File-URL: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12182/1444
File-Format: Application/pdf
DOI: 10.33119/kaewps2026122
Handle: RePEc:sgh:kaewps:2026122