Trade in Central and Eastern European countries ten years after their EU accession — Is there convergence?

Abstract

The paper focuses on the effects of EU’s Eastern Enlargement of 2004 on trade convergence within the EU and among the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE-8). Using sigma-convergence approach, it finds evidence of convergence of exports and imports per capita as well as of productivity levels associated with the member states’ export baskets. Convergence of territorial and commodity structures of trade has not occurred; conversely, divergence has been observed, leading to the possible conclusion that multinational companies have adjusted their production structure in facilities across the EU to achieve higher economies of scale. Correlation analysis shows that revealed comparative advantages of the old and new member states have come closer to each other. As an example, the paper also offers a brief comparison of trade development in two CEE-8 countries, Latvia and Slovakia, after their entry into the EU.

Próba identyfikacji wzorców rozwojowych w polskich regionach

“…Istnieją różnice w poziomie zaawansowania technologii między państwami europejskimi, dlatego korzyści dla Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej wynikają z rozszerzenia rynków i transferu technologii z Europy Zachodniej (Levchenko i Zhang, 2012). Na przestrzeni lat wzorce handlowe w Unii Europejskiej po jej rozszerzeniu na wschód upodabniały się, a przewagi komparatywne nowych i starych państw członkowskich zbliżały się do siebie (Grancay, Sumilo i Vveinhardt, 2015). Wskazuje to na istotność przewag komparatywnych w kształtowaniu pozycji gospodarczej regionów peryferyjnych.…”