Macedonian and Slovenian Trade after the Break-up of Former Yugoslavia: Focus on the European Union
Abstract
An American economist presents a statistical analysis of Macedonian foreign trade patterns since the break-up of former Yugoslavia, in the context of a comparison with Slovenia. After examining the countries' trade performance and policy, Gini-Hirshmann indexes of concentration, Grubel-Lloyd indexes of intra-industry trade (IIT), and similarity indexes are presented, along with a description of the main exports from the two countries to the EU and an evaluation of the factor intensity thereof. The results show that Macedonia's trade in comparison with Slovenia's is more unbalanced and less EU-oriented; its exports are more labor-intensive and concentrated in low-wage sectors; the structure of its trade with the EU differs greatly from Slovenia's; and it engages in little intra-industry trade with the EU. Macedonian trade patterns are suggestive of those of a developing country, indeed of one falling further behind the leading transition countries.