The foreign trade liberalization and export of agri-food products of Serbia

Abstract

Liberalization of the market, as a consequence of the achieved trade agreements with the members of the European Union and the Central European Free Trade Association, had a significant effect on the foreign trade exchange of the Serbian agri-food products. In order to determine the liberalization effects on the export of agri-food products of Serbia, a gravity model of the export of these products is estimated using econometric methods for the panel data. In order to find the sections, as well as the advantageous parts of the international market, the comparative advantages of agri-food products in the particular groups of countries are dynamically analysed using the index of the revealed comparative advantages, whereas the level of specialization in the international trade exchange of these products is analysed using the index of the intra-industry trade. In relation to the main objective of the article, which was to identify the effects of the foreign trade liberalization on the performances of the foreign trade in agri-food products, it may be stated that liberalization had positive effects on the intensification of foreign trade with the analysed group of countries, as well as on the increase of the revealed comparative advantages of the agri-food sector in the world market.