Naslov
Changes in the Trade Structure of Transitional Economies

Autori
Teodorović, Ivan ; Lovrinčević, Željko ; Buturac, Goran

Izvornik
Mir peremen 3 (2005) 33-42

Vrsta, podvrsta
Ostale vrste radova, ostali članci/prilozi

Godina
2005

Ključne riječi
transition economies; international trade; comparative advantage; trade specialization

Sažetak
This paper analyses the change in the trade structure of seven selected transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. During the period of transition came changes in the absolute and relative comparative advantages. The characteristic of the process is growth of intra-industry specialization of individual countries and the growth in the share of products with higher value-added. The analysis uses numerous indicators of absolute and relative comparative advantages of individual groups of products, and intra-industry specialization. We used correlation analysis to test the relationship between the specialization in intra-industry trade (TO index), the structure of trade (RCA) and the level of foreign direct investment (FDI). The obtained results indicate the existence of a positive correlation between the improvement of the structure of trade and the level of specialization in intra-industry trade. The same is true for FDI, which corresponds to positive changes in the structure of trade and appearance of intra-industry specialization. However, empirical results show that Croatia and Russia are in the group of observed countries an exception to some extent. Namely, although Croatia has a relatively high level of FDI per capita, it has not recorded a significant improvement in the structure of international trade and sector specialization. The reason lies in the structure of FDI that was oriented on the non-tradable sector, and the buying of domestic markets, and the absence of FDI in the tradable sector. As for expected positive relationship between TO and RCA indicators, Croatia and Russia recorded no correlation. In a case of Russia, as predominantly commodity exporting country, this is something you expect to see, while Croatian case is not typical of small country international trade. The Croatian trade structure records an increasing similarity with countries, which have much lower levels of GDP per capita. Croatia is considerably behind in the improvement of the structure of its international trade relative to the analyzed transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Russian trade structure is predominantly complementary, not competitive, to all of the analyzed transition economies.

Izvorni jezik
Rus

Znanstvena područja
Ekonomija

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