Abstract:
This paper considers trade specialisation in Russia, examining changes in trade patterns at the sectoral level over the transition period.Trade based on inter-industry specialisation and intra-industry trade (IIT) are empirically distinguished using the Aquino and Grubel- Lloyd indices.The Aquino index is applied to measure the degree of inter-industry specialisation by sector, while the Grubel-Lloyd index is used to establish the level of IIT between industries.The empirical results support recent trade theory, which predicts an increasing level of intra-industry trade with liberalisation processes.They also suggest how inter- and intra-industry trade coexist.The final econometric estimation of the factor content of Russia's exports (specialisation in resource-intensive products) supports the index analysis.