REGIONAL COOPERATION AND ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

PART I:
In all analyzed countries, trade rose rapidly relative to the rate of growth in GDP, which has
resulted in a considerable growth in the share of trade in GDP. The most intensive growth
in the share of exports and imports in GDP occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina: it rose
by 44.7% from 1996 to 2006. Out of the analysed transition countries the country with
the lowest share of exports and imports in GDP in 2006 was Croatia (65.0%), practically
stagnating in the share of exports in GDP.
2.2. Dispersion and concentration of export structures
In turn, the dispersion and concentration of export structures are analyzed. Trends of the
dispersion and concentration of merchandize export in south-eastern European countries
were determined by process of transition, existing trade relationships, and the closeness
of a strong economic structure – the EU. However, dynamics in the change of economic
structure, the level of integration and trade specialization can have significant influence on
the higher or lower level of export concentration. The level of concentration and dispersion
was analyzed by applying the “Trade Entropy Index”.
Croatia has the highest level of export dispersion, and Macedonia the lowest (figure 1).
Figure 1: Trade Entropy Index in 2006
3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Croatia Macedonia Serbia and
Montenegro
Trade Entropy Indeks
Source: COMEXT, own calculations.
Compared to other analyzed countries, the Croatian export structure is specific in terms of a
high share of the shipbuilding industry in total exports. 6 The greatest part of the exports of
Serbia and Montenegro (40.0%) is related to base metal and articles of base metal. Strong
concentration of Macedonian exports is determined by the domination of base metals and
articles of base metal, as well as products of textile industry. These two sectors have a share
in total Macedonian exports above 75.0%. Similarly, base metals and articles of the base
metal are the most significant sectors in the export structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
7 The main change in the composition of Croatian export in the transition period is the recovery of shipbuilding
industry exports from 1998 onwards which increased the share of machinery and transport equipment in total
exports.
80