Macedonian and Slovenian Trade: Contrasting Patterns and 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' overall trade performance and policy, Gini-Hirshmann indexes of concentration, Grubel-Lloyd indexes of intraindustry trade, and similarity indexes are presented, and main exports from the two countries to the European Union are described. This provides a basis for assessing the progress of economic transition in the two countries, whether trade patterns are characteristic of developed or less-developed countries, and the possible extent of trade distortion prevailing during the Yugoslav period. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F14, P27, F13. 5 tables, 28 references.