IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/rrorus/v8y2018i3d10.1134_s2079970518030061.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Structural Shifts in the Foreign Trade of Border Regions of Russia and Belarus in the Context of Political and Economic Challenges of the 2010s

Author

Listed:
  • K. A. Morachevskaya

    (St. Petersburg State University)

  • A. N. Shavel’

    (Belarusian State University)

  • A. S. Zinovyev

    (St. Petersburg State University)

Abstract

The state of foreign trade in the border regions of Russia and Belarus is defined both by the inherited (established in the USSR) functions of the regions in trade and specialization of economies and by the consequences of contemporary political and economic events. This paper attempts to identify changes in the foreign trade of the border regions of Russia and Belarus in the context of transformation processes related to Eurasian integration, the economic crisis, and the introduction of sanctions and antisanctions. It is found that the dynamics of overall foreign trade turnover has no correlation with integration processes. The possible trade effects of the EAEU when assessing only the volume indicator are unnoticeable against the backdrop of established functions of the regions in foreign trade and specialization of the regional industrial complexes. The greatest shifts in the inherited foreign trade functions of the border regions are characteristic of Pskov oblast, where the role of the export component is strengthened and the share of imports is decreasing with a general reduction in trade turnover. For Pskov oblast, this is leading not only to improvement in the balance of foreign trade relations, but also to consolidation of the asymmetry of cross-border interaction (exports of raw materials and products with low added value and imports of finished products). It was revealed that in the commodity structure of the foreign trade of border regions, most positions in exports and imports are determined by old ties preserved from Soviet times or restored in the post-Soviet period. Such contacts, on the one hand, are stable in terms of supply directions, and on the other hand, volatile in volume, because they are highly prone to fluctuations in global commodity markets and the influence of the financial solvency of buyers. New, post-Soviet enterprises, even in traditional export commodity groups, are either more flexible (an example is the Belarusian food enterprises that responded to new niches in the Russian market) or more diversified in sales geography (not as strongly oriented toward Russia).

Suggested Citation

  • K. A. Morachevskaya & A. N. Shavel’ & A. S. Zinovyev, 2018. "Structural Shifts in the Foreign Trade of Border Regions of Russia and Belarus in the Context of Political and Economic Challenges of the 2010s," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 269-280, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:rrorus:v:8:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1134_s2079970518030061
    DOI: 10.1134/S2079970518030061
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1134/S2079970518030061
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1134/S2079970518030061?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cletus C. Coughlin & Dennis Novy, 2013. "Is the International Border Effect Larger than the Domestic Border Effect? Evidence from US Trade," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 59(2), pages 249-276, June.
    2. Nurseiit, Nurlan, 2014. "Estimation of Kazakhstan’s trade potential in the framework of the Custom Union," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 10(4), pages 1-28.
    3. Jeremy Smith, 2017. "The Transformation of Soviet Republic Borders to International Borders: Competing Concepts of the Kazakhstan-Russia Border," Journal of Borderlands Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 91-104, January.
    4. Farrukh Suvankulov, 2015. "Revisiting National Border Effects in Foreign Trade in Goods of Canadian Provinces," Staff Working Papers 15-28, Bank of Canada.
    5. Alena Vieira, 2017. "A Tale of Two Unions: Russia–Belarus Integration Experience and its Lessons for the Eurasian Economic Union," Journal of Borderlands Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 41-53, January.
    6. Nurlan Nurseiit, 2014. "Estimation of Kazakhstan’s trade potential in the framework of the Custom Union," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 10(4), pages 320-347, November.
    7. Nuria Gallego & Carlos Llano, 2014. "The Border Effect and the Nonlinear Relationship between Trade and Distance," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 1016-1048, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kiril I. Tochkov, 2018. "Trade Potential and Trade Integration of the Russian Far East: A Regional Perspective," Spatial Economics=Prostranstvennaya Ekonomika, Economic Research Institute, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (Khabarovsk, Russia), issue 4, pages 21-38.
    2. Qun Bao & Jiuli Huang & Yanling Wang, 2015. "Productivity and Firms’ Sales Destination: Chinese Characteristics," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 620-637, August.
    3. Andrew J. Cassey, 2010. "Analyzing the export flow from Texas to Mexico," Staff Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, issue Oct.
    4. Paudel, Nawaraj S. & Lahiri, Sajal, 2024. "The effects of state-level foreign manufacturing imports on domestic inter-state and intra-state sales in the U.S.A," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 297-305.
    5. Herrmann-Pillath, Carsten & Libman, Alexander & Yu, Xiaofan, 2014. "Economic integration in China: Politics and culture," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 470-492.
    6. A. Nchake Mamello & Edwards Lawrence & N. Kaya Tresor, 2017. "Working Paper 272 - Price effects of borders between Lesotho and South Africa," Working Paper Series 2389, African Development Bank.
    7. Benedikt Herz & Xosé-Luís Varela-Irimia, 2020. "Border effects in European public procurement [Information costs and home bias: an analysis of US holdings of foreign equities]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(6), pages 1359-1405.
    8. Nicholas Crafts & Alexander Klein, 2015. "Geography and intra-national home bias: U.S. domestic trade in 1949 and 2007," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 477-497.
    9. Eberhardt, Markus & Wang, Zheng & Yu, Zhihong, 2016. "From one to many central plans: Drug advertising inspections and intra-national protectionism in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 608-622.
    10. Bellone, Flora & Kiyota, Kozo & Matsuura, Toshiyuki & Musso, Patrick & Nesta, Lionel, 2014. "International productivity gaps and the export status of firms: Evidence from France and Japan," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 56-74.
    11. Yann Duval & Chorthip Utoktham, 2011. "Trade costs in the India-Mekong Subregion: Identifying Policy Priorities for Trade Facilitation," Working Paper Series 411, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    12. Fabien Candau & Elisa Dienesch, 2015. "Spatial distribution of skills and regional trade integration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(2), pages 451-488, March.
    13. David Comerford & José V Rodríguez Mora & Beata Javorcik, 2019. "The gains from economic integration," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 34(98), pages 201-266.
    14. Javier Barbero & Giovanni Mandras & Ernesto Rodríguez-Crespo & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2021. "Quality of government and regional trade: evidence from European Union regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(7), pages 1240-1251, July.
    15. Tomoya Mori & Jens Wrona, 2021. "Centrality Bias in Inter-city Trade," KIER Working Papers 1056, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    16. Anderson, James E. & Borchert, Ingo & Mattoo, Aaditya & Yotov, Yoto V., 2018. "Dark costs, missing data: Shedding some light on services trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 193-214.
    17. Cletus C. Coughlin & Dennis Novy, 2021. "Estimating Border Effects: The Impact Of Spatial Aggregation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1453-1487, November.
    18. Jorge Díaz-Lanchas & José Luis Zofío & Carlos Llano, 2022. "A trade hierarchy of cities based on transport cost thresholds," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(8), pages 1359-1376, August.
    19. Suárez-Varela, Marta & Rodríguez-Crespo, Ernesto, 2022. "Is dirty trade concentrating in more polluting countries? Evidence from Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 728-744.
    20. Jens Wrona, 2018. "Border Effects Without Borders: What Divides Japan's Internal Trade?," CESifo Working Paper Series 7056, CESifo.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:rrorus:v:8:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1134_s2079970518030061. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.