High-income countries dominate global export quality innovation, shaping world income distribution.
Countries with higher incomes tend to export higher quality goods. While individual countries are improving the quality of their exports, this does not lead to an overall convergence in export quality across all countries. This is because high-income countries have an advantage in producing higher quality goods due to their access to capital and advanced financial systems. This study analyzed export quality data from 122 countries and 2,700 products to show that the quality of exports is influenced by a country's wealth and resources.