Authors : Natalia Ishchukova, Mansoor Maitah, Lubos Smutka, Karel Malec and Osama Eldeeb
Abstract: This research studies specialization of Russia’s foreign trade in agricultural products and foodstuffs in terms of inter-and intra-industry trade. The objective of this study is to consider the extent of intra-industry trade in Russia’s foreign trade in agricultural products and to identify significant changes in trade patterns at the industry level over the transition period. Thereby in this study, researchers provide a systematic decomposition of Russia’s foreign trade into 3 trade types: Inter-and intra-industry in horizontally and vertically differentiated products, over the period 1996-2012. The analysis is performed in relation to individual regions. The analysis is performed using the methodology proposed by Fontagne and Freudenberg and the method of Greenaway. Results show that the extent of Russia's intra-industry trade varies significantly depending on the geographical region. The lowest level of intra-industry trade is observed in relation to Africa and South America, the highest in relation to CIS countries. Intra-industry trade growth simultaneously with the process of trade liberalization occurred only in relation to the CIS countries. Therefore, the empirical results support recent trade theory which predicts, an increasing level of intra-industry trade with liberalization processes between neighboring countries with a similar level of economic development.
Natalia Ishchukova, Mansoor Maitah, Lubos Smutka, Karel Malec and Osama Eldeeb, 2014. Russia’s Intra-Industry Trade in Agricultural Products. The Social Sciences, 9: 379-385.