Macedonia’s exports toward Southeast Europe through the gravity model

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the export performance of the Republic of Macedonia to its main trading partners from Southeast Europe; hence, the authors focus on the major importing countries which are most present in the Macedonian trade balance. Design/methodology/approach The data used in this paper are analyzed with gravity model, which has good characteristics and very stable performance. Further, the data sample is formed on major importers form the Southeastern Europe region. Findings The results show that the domestic country GDP is positively correlated with the exports from the source country to target countries and that Balkan countries have positive propensities to import from Macedonia, however, it was found that populations of source country and target country are negatively correlated with exports from the source country to target countries. Additionally, the business cycles had no positive effect on Macedonian export to the target countries. Originality/value Based on pertinent theoretical concepts and existing empirical findings, and by applying up-to-date methodological approach, case studies might bring vital contribution to the literature, which eventually leads to solid policy and practice.