"Bilateral Intra-Industry Trade in Country Characteristics Context: The Case Study of Trade of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatia"

Abstract: The paper focuses primarily on intra-industry trade (IIT) which is researched in the context of country-specific characteristics. A three-decade-long academic research of IIT phenomena suggests that IIT is likely to be more intensive and mostly of horizontal type between countries that are at a similar stage of economic development, with the same level of trade openness and with intensive and significantly liberalized mutual trade. Geographical proximity of countries, especially their common border, as well as their similarities in some non-economic characteristics such as history, culture, language, also contribute to IIT intensity. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) and Croatia match most of these criteria for intensive and increasing IIT. The aim of the research is to check aforementioned thesis on IIT on a case study of BH in its trade with Croatia over the period from 2003 till 2016. Research is focused on IIT characteristics – intensity, trend and structure, both at aggregate level (based on calculating corrected and uncorrected Grubel-Lloyd indices) and at division level of Standard International Trade Classification – SITC (based on calculating standard Grubel-Lloyd index and relative unit values of export and import). The research findings indicate a continuously rising, although lower than expected, intensity of IIT, taking into account similarities between given countries in comparison with other important trading partners of BH and taking into account a high level of data aggregation. In BH trade with Croatia inter-industry trade still prevails while high intensive IIT appears in a very low number of product groups, coupled with the dominance of vertical IIT. However,at the same time a growing trend and a significant increase of IIT intensity in trade with Croatia have been identified.