Opening Up and Geographic Diversification of Trade in Transition Economies

27 Pages Posted: 15 Feb 2006

See all articles by Oleh Havrylyshyn

Oleh Havrylyshyn

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - European Department

Hassan Al-Atrash

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Date Written: February 1998

Abstract

This paper looks at the progress in transition and the geographic diversification of trade, focusing on two issues--the degree of trade openness and trade integration--for a sample of countries in transition. It concludes that about half of the group of countries sampled are becoming as open as similar market economies, but that many others remain relatively closed. Geographic diversification (to the European Union) is found to be greater the closer is geographic proximity and the more advanced the country is with reforms. The analysis is then extended, in an illustrative way, to show how much larger would be the share of exports to the EU if structural reforms were more ambitious.

Keywords: Trade diversification, trade openness, transition economies

JEL Classification: F15, F17, O57

Suggested Citation

Havrylyshyn, Oleh and Al-Atrash, Hassan, Opening Up and Geographic Diversification of Trade in Transition Economies (February 1998). IMF Working Paper No. 98/22, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=882252

Oleh Havrylyshyn (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - European Department ( email )

700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Hassan Al-Atrash

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20431
United States

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