Trade openness, export diversification, and political regimes

Makhlouf, Y., Kellard, N. M. and Vinogradov, D. (2015) Trade openness, export diversification, and political regimes. Economics Letters, 136, pp. 25-27. (doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2015.08.031)

Abstract

Recent studies have challenged the view that trade openness leads to more specialization in countries’ trade. Using a panel of 116 countries over 35 years, we show that openness can be positively associated with both specialization and diversification, depending on the measure used. Moreover, for developing countries in our sample, the effect of openness on trade structure depends on the type of political regime: in autocracies openness is linked with specialization, whilst in democracies it is related to diversification via export sophistication.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Vinogradov, Professor Dmitri
• Authors: Makhlouf, Y., Kellard, N. M., and Vinogradov, D.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Accounting and Finance
• Journal Name: Economics Letters
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0165-1765
• ISSN (Online): 1873-7374
• Published Online: 03 September 2015
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V.
• First Published: First published in Economics Letters 136:25-27
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher