Spatial Analysis of High-Tech Export Performance of the Eastern European Member States of the EU

Abstract

Some Central and East European countries have integrated into the European Union after 2004 and followed free market economy principles. This paper studies the spatial spillovers effects of high-tech export, Gross Domestic Product per capita, research and development expenditure, number of research and development full time equivalent, and technology accumulation among European Union member Central and East European countries over the period 2007-2020 by using spatial panel estimation models. The main purpose of the paper is to investigate whether high-tech export of European Union member Central and East European countries has a dependency and interaction with each other after EU membership. The estimation results of spatial panel model results reveal that an increment in high-tech exports of adjacent countries increases the high-tech exports of other regional countries. Our results also provide evidence on Gross Domestic Product per capita, and research and development expenditure of European Union member transition economies have positive and significant impacts on high-tech exports of those countries.