Journal of African Trade

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Volume 5, Issue 1-2, December 2018, Pages 19 - 34

Trade dependence, liberalization, and exports diversification in developing countries☆

Authors
Patrick N. Osakwea, Amelia U. Santos-Paulinoa, *, Amelia.Santos-Paulino@un.org, Berna Doganb
aUNCTAD, Geneva, Switzerland
bUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst, United States of America
*Corresponding author at: Trade and Poverty Unit, Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, E-8091, Geneva 1211, Switzerland.
Corresponding Author
Amelia U. Santos-PaulinoAmelia.Santos-Paulino@un.org
Received 7 February 2018, Revised 25 September 2018, Accepted 26 September 2018, Available Online 27 November 2018.
DOI
10.1016/j.joat.2018.09.001How to use a DOI?
Keywords
C33; F63; O19; O55
Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between trade, trade liberalization, and exports diversification in developing and Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The non-parametric analyses indicate that developing countries that are more open to trade (based on trade intensity) tend to have more diversified exports structures than those that are classified as less open. However, for SSA countries the non-parametric test shows that countries that are more open to trade have less diversified exports structures. Regarding the parametric analysis, the findings provide further evidence that trade liberalization, in the form of lower tariffs, contributes to exports diversification in developing countries, and the results for the long term are even stronger for SSA countries. With regard to trade intensity, the parametric estimations also confirm the results that trade is associated with diversification in developing countries and in SSA countries in the short term; however, for SSA countries, it actually leads to concentration in the long term, consistent with the non-parametric results. The empirical analyses also show that human capital, GDP per capita and institutions, play important roles in exports diversification.

Copyright
© 2018 Afreximbank. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc/4.0/).

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<Previous Article In Issue
Next Article In Issue>
Journal
Journal of African Trade
Volume-Issue
5 - 1-2
Pages
19 - 34
Publication Date
2018/11/27
ISSN (Online)
2214-8523
ISSN (Print)
2214-8515
DOI
10.1016/j.joat.2018.09.001How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2018 Afreximbank. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - JOUR
AU  - Patrick N. Osakwe
AU  - Amelia U. Santos-Paulino
AU  - Berna Dogan
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/11/27
TI  - Trade dependence, liberalization, and exports diversification in developing countries☆
JO  - Journal of African Trade
SP  - 19
EP  - 34
VL  - 5
IS  - 1-2
SN  - 2214-8523
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joat.2018.09.001
DO  - 10.1016/j.joat.2018.09.001
ID  - Osakwe2018
ER  -