Comments on Assessment of  the Trade Integration Pattern Between the Russian Federation and East/Southeast Asian Economies Using the Panel Gravity Framework

Sinikka Parviainen, East Office of Finnish Industries: This paper studies the trade patterns between the Russian Federation and East Asian countries that have witnesses strong changes in the last two decades. The issue has lacked rigorous empirical research on the drivers of trade patterns between these emerging markets, which is why this paper is a welcomed introduction. Furthermore, the paper adds to the theoretical discussion on international trade patterns, by using an extension of the gravity model to determine whether trade patterns are positively or negatively related to similarity in preferences, which are respectively referred to in the paper as the Linder hypothesis and Hecksher-Ohlin hypothesis. The results of the paper state that Russia's exports to East Asia are positively related to differences in per capita income between the trading partners, whereas imports are negatively related to the differences in per capita income between the countries. These results are an...