Comparative Advantages in Agro-Food Trade of Central European and Balkans' Countries with the European Union

Abstract

Limited research is available to investigate revealed comparative advantages in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (Bojnec, 2001; Fertő and Hubbard, 2003). Similarly, research on competitiveness of agriculture in CEE countries employing trade data is also scarce. Both of the analyses are particularly relevant for the new European Union (EU) member countries, which during the last fifteen years have undergone transition from central planning to a market economy and rapid adjustments to the EU membership. While one might expect that trade opening, free trade and association agreements, and the EU membership have induced substantial changes in structures of agro-food trade flows, there is limited evidence on the magnitude and patterns in comparative trade advantages potentially caused by these processes. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigates comparative trade advantages/disadvantages in agro-food trade of five new members of the EU from Central Europe (CE-5) (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia), and the selected Balkans’ countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania) with the EU members employing comparative trade advantage measures. Thus, we apply in practical empirical work recent theoretical and methodological developments in international trade with an aim to evaluate agro-food sector comparative trade advantages and their implications for sustainable rural development.