EU ACCESSION AND TRADE INTEGRATION: THE GRAVITY MODEL OF TRADE IN THE CASE OF THE EU CANDIDATE COUNTRIES
In the majority of the EU potential members agricultural sector is playing a prominent role. Such an outcome is based on the high contribution of the agricultural sector on GDP, employment and trade accounts. EU initiated bilateral trade liberalization with the Western Balkans through the establishment of the ATPs. Furthermore, trade liberalization is extended in the regional level through the establishment of renewed CEFTA 2006. Despite the significant improvement, their export competitiveness remains weak. In the long run, agricultural exports might contribute on improvement of the export performance of the EU candidates. Main findings of the gravity model employed in this paper suggest that exports are positively affected by product size (GDP), and to lesser extent by the GDP of trading partners. Exports fall with the increase of the distance, and the fall in the value of exports is greater as larger is the distance between the trading partners. Therefore, the marginal fall in exports increases as far as the geographical distance between the trading partners increase. Initial assumptions that PTAs and cultural ties facilities the trade flows were affirmatively confirmed. Trade liberalization had a positive implication on improving export performance of the EU candidate countries.
Determinants of export in transition economies: Evidence from the South East Europe (SEE-6) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
The main focus of this study is to analyse key determinants of export in transition economies of South East Europe (SEE-6) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Here we employ augmented gravity model to estimate impact of the key variables in export flows for the period 2005-2015. The Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator is used for stepwise estimations of the augmented gravity model, including effects of income differential, Diaspora, exchange rate and price stability, trade liberalization, institutional distance and infrastructure. In the last stage of this study we estimate the export potential for both regions. Findings suggest that export flow increases with increasing economic size, revealing higher impact of importer’s absorbing potential comparatively to exporter’s productive potential. On the other hand, growth in domestic demand, resulting from increase in population, leads to reduction of export. Moreover, exports are determined by low transportation costs (distance), adjacency proximity (sharing common border) and linguistic similarities. Diaspora residing in the importing countries facilitates export flows. Results of this study reveal that exchange rate variability has a positive impact, while bilateral institutional distance has diminishing effects on exports.
Characterization of Aqueous Dispersions and Gels Made of Sodium Caseinate and Basil Seed Gum: Phase Behavior, Rheology, and Microstructure
The interactions between sodium caseinate (NaCas) and basil seed gum (BSG) in the presence of calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ) were investigated. The phase behavior of the mixed aqueous dispersions and their gels revealed a homogeneous mixture, obtained at the higher concentrations of both CaCl 2 and BSG. The Herschel-Bulkley model sufficiently fitted the flow behavior of the mixture solution data. Apparent viscosity increased significantly ( p  < 0.05) by increasing the concentration of BSG, where the addition of CaCl 2 had no significant effect on the viscosity of the samples ( p  > 0.05). Furthermore, there was an increase in thixotropy due to the higher concentrations of BSG and CaCl 2 . Based on the frequency sweep test, at the low frequencies, a more gel-like behavior was observed in the case of the higher concentrations of either BSG or CaCl 2 . The rheological and SEM data suggested that the stronger structure of NaCas-BSG gel in the presence of the higher concentrations of CaCl 2 was related to the induction of complex formation between the two biopolymers.