International Trade and Economic Catch-up

International trade specialisation reflects differences in relative factor productivity and endowments, economies of scale or specific advantages of firms and it can have a significant impact on economic growth. We focus in this paper on trade specialisation dynamics in two Eastern European countries (Romania and Bulgaria – EEC-2) vis-à-vis the EU member states (EU-25). Specifically, we are interested to see whether there is a shift towards intra-industry trade leading to economic convergence and technological catch-up. We use recently developed static (FEM, REM and FEVD) and dynamic (GMM) panel data methods which take into account possible heterogeneity. Our empirical results indicate that intra-industry trade has indeed increased, but it is of the vertical rather than the horizontal type, resulting in complementary rather than competitive production patterns.