Review and assessment of import diversification methods and measures in the primary economic sector

Abstract

The diversification of import plays a very important role in the current world full of risks and political perturbations. Covid-19 lockdowns and Russian - Ukrainian war cause disruptions in supply chains. Therefore, import diversification is very important for ensuring the country's supply security. There are many measures and tools developed for assessing economic diversification, including import diversification though the majority of studies are addressing export diversification and analyzing the importance of economic diversification for economic growth and macro-economic stability in the primary sector. However, risks of supply disruptions, especially in the current globalized world, can cause many problems for specific industries, regions and countries. There is a literature gap on the analysis of import diversification methods and measures in terms of their suitability for economic analysis and decision-making in all economic sectors, including mining. The paper aims to overcome this gap by analyzing import diversification measures based on a systematic literature review and assessing them according to the main criteria of suitability for economic analysis and decision-making: simplicity, data availability, comparability and transparency. The ranking of import diversification methods and measures was provided based on conducted analysis and assessment.