Phrase:

  • V. Hadzhiev
    Asymmetric Specialisation of Exports in a Liberal International Trade Environment
    JEL: C38, F14
    Keywords: foreign trade, asymmetry, hierarchical cluster analysis
    Summary: Asymmetric specialisation in exports is a common feature of modern liberal trade. It is expressed by the fact that most countries export mainly raw materials and low-processed products and a small number of countries export highly processed products. The purpose of this article is to prove that asymmetric specialisation in exports did not change significantly during the operating period of the WTO by ap¬plying hierarchical cluster analysis. The analysis found that, from 1995 to 2011, asymmetric specialisation in exports did not change substantially. It was concluded that, for both these specific years, a large group of countries fell into the first cluster (76% and 74% respectively of the total number of countries). The rest of them were evenly distributed in neighbouring clusters. It was also found that countries from the first cluster have mainly specialised in the export of raw materials and low-processed products. Based on the results, it can be concluded that asymmetric specialisation in exports is a chronic, long-term problem of liberal international trade.
  • Vera Pirimova, Petar Ilkov Peshev
    Comparative Advantages and Competitiveness of Bulgarian Exports
    JEL: F10, F14
    Keywords: exports and foreign trade, comparative advantages, copetitiveness.
    Summary: The research analyses the comparative advantages and competitiveness of Bulgarian production and exports. The paper consists of two parts. Part one reviews some theoretical concepts about the nature of comparative advantages and interprets the indexes designed by B. Balassa and M. Amir. Part two provides computations of B. Balassa and M. Amir indexes and analyses obtained results to identify the comparative advantages and disadvantages of Bulgarian production and exports for certain commodities and commodity groups in the period from 2012 to 2016. Based on the findings of the analysis, we identify and summarise available opportunities for expanding or limiting the exports of certain commodity groups and raising the competitiveness of Bulgarian economy. The research employs mathematical and statistical methods, mainly the index method, in addition to the methods of analysis and synthesis.