Russia’s Export Specialization in Africa
Abstract
The paper is devoted to the study of Russia’s export specialization in the countries of Africa in the period from 2001 to 2017. A comprehensive analysis of the dynamics, the commodity and geographical structure of Russian exports to the African continent has been carried out. Using bilateral trade data for product groups at the level of two digits of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), this study examines the main patterns of comparative advantage in Russia’s trade with the countries of the region in the early 21st century. Based on the calculation results of the bilateral revealed comparative advantage index (RCA), authors identified a group of Russia’s trade partners in Africa, characterized by the largest number of export specialization product groups: Algeria, Angola, Guinea, Egypt, South Africa. Comparative analysis of Russia’s export specialization in Africa with the main partners in terms of trade turnover indicates, that Russia has more diverse comparative advantages in trade with some African countries (17 product groups), than with European ones, such as Germany (9 product groups) and Netherlands (8 groups). The study shows that Russia has export specialization in the following main product groups in African countries: HS 84 ‘Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof ’, HS 85‘Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof ’, HS 87 ‘Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof ’, HS 48‘Paper and paperboard’ and HS 10‘Cereals’. The authors revealed, that the intensity of Russia’s export specialization in African countries increases with the augmentation of the technical complexity of products exported. It proves that Russian industrial products have competitive advantages in the African market. The development and strengthening of economic cooperation with Africa is one of the most important direction of non-commodity and non-energy exports expansion and geographical diversification of Russian trade. The paper concludes by discussing the promising avenues for the future Russian-African export partnership.
About the Authors
Z. S. Podoba
Saint Petersburg State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
PhD in Economics, Associate Professor, World Economy Department, Senior Research Fellow, Laboratory of Asian Economic Studies
199034, Universitetskaya Emb., 7/9, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
M. M. Smirnova
Saint Petersburg State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
student, Faculty of Economics
199034, Universitetskaya Emb., 7/9, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
References
1. Abramova I., Fituni L. (2017) The Potential of the African Continent in the Development Strategy of the Russian Economy. World Economy and International Relations, no 9, pp. 24–35 (in Russian). DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2017-61-9-24-35
2. Abramova I.O. (2018) Africa in the Modern Model of the World Order: a Powerful Player or an Outsider? Outlines of Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, Law, no 5, pp. 6–21 (in Russian). DOI: 10.23932/2542-0240-2018-11-5-6-21
3. AFDB Socio Economic Database, 1960–2019 (2019). African Development Bank. Available at: http://dataportal.opendataforafrica.org/bbkawjf/afdb-socioeconomic-database-1960-2019, accessed 30.06.2019.
4. Aleshin K.A. (2018) Place and Role of Egypt and Algeria in Russia’s Foreign Economic Policy. Vostok (Oriens), no 4, pp. 131–143 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31857/S086919080000423-2
5. Baklanov A. (2018) Russia-Africa: Medium Term Action Plan. Russia in Global Affairs, 10 August. Available at: https://globalaffairs.ru/global-processes/Rossiya--Afrika-srednesrochnyi-plan-deistvii-19702, accessed 30.06.2019 (in Russian).
6. Balassa B. (1965) Trade Liberalization and Revealed Comparative Advantage. The Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies, vol. 33, no 2, pp. 99–123. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9957.1965.tb00050.x
7. Development of Russia’s Total and non-Primary Export in 2017. Russian Export Center. Available at: https://www.exportcenter.ru/upload/iblock/934/%D0%AD%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82%20%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8%202017%20(%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82-%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F).pdf, accessed 30.06.2019 (in Russian).
8. Donges J., Riedel J. (1977) The Expansion of Manufactured Exports in Developing Countries: An Empirical Assessment of Supply and Demand Issues. Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), vol. 113, no 1, pp. 58–87. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02696566, accessed 30.06.2019.
9. Gnidchenko A.A., Salnikov V.A. (2013) Dynamics of Russia’s Competitive Position in Foreign Markets. Studies on Russian Economic Development, no 6, pp. 82–97. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/dinamika-konkurentnyh-pozitsiy-rossii-na-vneshnih-rynkah, accessed 30.06.2019 (in Russian).
10. Gnidchenko A.A., Salnikov V.A. (2015) Net Comparative Advantage Index: Overcoming the Drawbacks of the Existing Indices. Working Paper WP BRP 119/EC/2015, Moscow: HSE. Available at: https://www.hse.ru/data/2015/12/29/1136287015/119EC2015.pdf, accessed 30.06.2019.
11. Güneş S., Tan M. (2017) Static and Dynamic Revealed Comparative Advantage: A Comparative Analysis of Turkey and Russia. İktisadi Yenilik Dergisi, vol. 4, no 3, pp. 22–38. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/iy/issue/30465/329113, accessed 30.06.2019.
12. Hoen A., Oosterhaven J. (2006) On the Measurement of Comparative Advantage. The Annals of Regional Science, vol. 40, no 3, pp. 677–691. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00168-006-0076-4, accessed 30.06.2019.
13. HS Classification Handbook (2013). World Customs Organization. Available at: http://harmonizedsystem.wcoomdpublications.org/pdfs/WCOOMD_MSH_EN.pdf, accessed 30.06.2019.
14. Ishchukova N., Smutka L. (2013) Revealed Comparative Advantage of Russian Agricultural Exports. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, vol. 61, no 4, pp. 941–952. DOI: 10.11118/actaun201361040941
15. Podoba Z.S., Smirnova M.M. (2017) Trends in Export Specialization of the Republic of South Africa at the Beginning of the XXI Century. Russian Foreign Economic Journal, no 11, pp. 76–92. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/tendentsii-eksportnoy-spetsializatsii-yuzhno-afrikanskoy-respubliki-v-nachale-hhi-veka, accessed 30.06.2019 (in Russian).
16. Proudman J., Redding S. (2000) Evolving Patterns of International Trade. Review of International Economics, vol. 8, no 3, pp. 373–396. Available at: http://www.princeton.edu/~reddings/pubpapers/RCAEvolveRIE2000.pdf, accessed 30.06.2019.
17. Sustainable Development Goal 7 (2019). International Energy Agency. Available at: https://www.iea.org/sdg/electricity/,accessed 30.06.2019.
18. Trade Statistics for International Business Development (2018). International Trade Centre. Available at: http://www.trademap.org/Index.aspx, accessed 30.06.2019.
19. UN Comtrade Database. United Nations. Available at: https://comtrade.un.org/data/, accessed 30.06.2019.
20. Vollrath T. (1991) A Theoretical Evaluation of Alternative Trade Intensity Measures of Revealed Comparative Advantage. Review of World Economics, vol. 127, no 2, pp. 265–280. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02707986, accessed 30.06.2019.
21. World Economic Outlook Update (2019). International Monetary Fund, January 2019. Available at: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2019/01/11/weo-update-january-2019, accessed 30.06.2019.
22. World Population Prospects (2017). United Nations Population Division. Available at: https://population.un.org/wpp/DataQuery/, accessed 30.06.2019.
Review
For citations:
Podoba Z.S., Smirnova M.M. Russia’s Export Specialization in Africa. Outlines of global transformations: politics, economics, law. 2019;12(3):109-128. (In Russ.)
Views:
1224
Email this article 