Successes of trade reorientation and expansion in post-communist transition: an enterprise-level approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13133/2037-3643/10351Keywords:
Foreign Trade, Trade, Trade reorientations, post-communist, East-EuropeAbstract
The article offers an approach to the westward reorientation of foreign trade by the post-communist economies of East-Central Europe at the micro--i.e. enterprise--level. Having presented the dynamics of reorientation and its theoretical/historical underpinnings, the writer then goes on to underline the surprisingly large number of microeconomic determinants behind the strong westbound export surge. The article starts with the most often cited factor, namely the distressed sale argument, and then shifts the focus to determinants that have received far less attention: an unusual extension of the "distressed sale" argument and another, more important one, namely the legacy of the oversized industrial sector and resultant availability of firms ready (or forced) to test their mettle on the world markets. The following section extends the list of determinants to foreign direct investment and the growing export activity of domestic de novo firms. The linkages between the determinants are also pointed out. The final section sums up the observations.
JEL Codes: N74, N84, P33
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