Implications of the European integration: revisiting the hypothesis of ‘hub-and-spokes’ model

Figures & data

Table 1. Variables employed in the model.

Variable name	Description	Source	Expected sign
exports	Exports in millions of Euros (dependent variable)	Eurostat
lGDP_rep	Natural logarithm of GDP in current US dollars of a reporter country	WDI	+
lGDP_par	Natural logarithm of GDP in current US dollars of a partner country	WDI	+
lGdpR_pc	Natural logarithm of the absolute value of difference of GDP per capita in purchasing power parity (PPP) of reporter and partner countries	WDI	−
ldistance	Natural logarithm of geographical distance between the capital of the trading partners	CEPII	−
contig	Dummy variable standing for the neighbouring countries	CEPII	+
RTAs	Dummy variabe standing for any signed agreement between trade partners.	WTO	+
EU_15	Dummy variable denoting the EU15 countries among partners		+
NMS	Dummy variable denoting new member states of the EU among partners, excluding Visegrad countries		−
VS	Dummy variable denoting V-4 among partners		−
Post-Soviet	Dummy variable denoting the former Soviet states among trade partners, excluding Baltic countries	CEPII	−

Source: Own compilations.

Table 2. Estimation results.

	Country and time effects				Country and time effects		No country and time effects
	Structural break				No structural break		No structural break
Variables	(1) without RTAs	(2) (change)	(3) with RTAs	(4) (change)	(5) without RTAs	(6) with RTAs	(7) without RTAs	(8) with RTAs
lGDP_rep	0.638*** (0.153)	0.103*** (0.0334)	0.614*** (0.158)	0.0885*** (0.0333)	0.684*** (0.155)	0.629*** (0.161)	0.605*** (0.0185)	0.635*** (0.0179)
lGDP_par	0.710*** (0.0552)	0.0230 (0.0220)	0.734*** (0.0587)	0.0238 (0.0214)	0.786*** (0.0508)	0.788*** (0.0558)	0.861*** (0.0129)	0.875*** (0.0138)
lGdpR_pc	0.0252 (0.0387)	−0.189*** (0.0374)	0.0340 (0.0420)	−0.201*** (0.0407)	−0.148*** (0.0183)	−0.151*** (0.0188)	−0.0589** (0.0242)	−0.0657** (0.0256)
ldistance	−0.444*** (0.0485)	0.0426 (0.0433)	−0.481*** (0.0518)	0.0916* (0.0468)	−0.394*** (0.0365)	−0.388*** (0.0381)	−0.872*** (0.0376)	−0.872*** (0.0358)
contig	0.347*** (0.0831)	−0.0445 (0.0845)	0.310*** (0.0842)	0.000655 (0.0868)	0.310*** (0.0379)	0.312*** (0.0393)	0.282*** (0.0505)	0.273*** (0.0512)
RTAs			0.118* (0.113)	0.243*** (0.0937)		0.0490* (0.0364)		0.229*** (0.0429)
EU_15	2.882*** (0.449)	0.0165 (0.0672)	2.759*** (0.468)	0.0808 (0.101)	2.669*** (0.439)	2.664*** (0.449)	0.776*** (0.0569)	0.808*** (0.0539)
NMS	−0.432 (0.368)	−0.155 (0.0959)	−0.318 (0.378)	−0.217 (0.0918)	−0.416 (0.360)	−0.458 (0.361)	1.082*** (0.0893)	1.116*** (0.0926)
VS	4.958*** (0.454)	−0.155 (0.116)	4.883*** (0.480)	−0.209 (0.115)	4.652*** (0.432)	4.636*** (0.439)	1.586*** (0.0826)	1.642*** (0.0828)
Post-Soviet	3.949*** (0.398)	−0.186*** (0.0850)	4.364*** (0.433)	−0.218** (0.0943)	3.039*** (0.426)	4.058*** (0.435)	0.705*** (0.0576)	0.781*** (0.0637)
Constant	−17.44*** (1.889)		−17.27*** (1816)		−17.43*** (1.960)	−16.84*** (1.831)	−12.48*** (0.423)	−13.05*** (0.458)
Observations	11,123		10,587		11,123	10,587	11,123	10,587

Note: Robust Standard errors in parentheses. Significance at the 10%*, 5%** and 1%*** levels.

Source: Own calculations, Stata (2014).

Stata (2014). Stata statistical software: Release 13. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP.

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