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Determinants of Uganda’s Export Performance: A Gravity Model Analysis

Received: 16 February 2015     Accepted: 2 March 2015     Published: 6 March 2015
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Abstract

Exports play an important role in Uganda’s economy, influencing the level of economic growth, employment and the Balance of Payments. Uganda has initiated several trade policy reforms aimed at promoting the export sector. However, Uganda’s share in total world exports is still very low. Given the central role of exports in the economy, it was important to identify the plausible factors affecting export flows between Uganda and its trading partners. Thus, this paper examines the factors affecting Uganda’s exports using an augmented gravity model of trade. The panel dataset used was for the period 1980 to 2012. The results suggest that Uganda’s GDP, importer’s GDP, importer’s GDP per capita, per capita GDP difference between Uganda and its trading partners, real exchange rate, official common language, and contiguity had a positive and statistically significant effect on Uganda’s exports. The study further, shows that the formation of COMESA and EAC had a significant positive effect on Uganda’s exports. On the other hand, Uganda’s GDP per capita and distance between Uganda and its trading partners had a negative effect on Uganda’s export flows. These results are important for trade policy formulation in order to ensure that Uganda’s export potential is exploited so as to enhance economic growth.

Published in International Journal of Business and Economics Research (Volume 4, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14
Page(s) 45-54
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Gravity Model, Fixed Effects Regression, Random Effects Regression, Instrumental Variables GMM Regression, Exports

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Henry Tumwebaze Karamuriro, Wilfred Nahamya Karukuza. (2015). Determinants of Uganda’s Export Performance: A Gravity Model Analysis. International Journal of Business and Economics Research, 4(2), 45-54. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14

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    ACS Style

    Henry Tumwebaze Karamuriro; Wilfred Nahamya Karukuza. Determinants of Uganda’s Export Performance: A Gravity Model Analysis. Int. J. Bus. Econ. Res. 2015, 4(2), 45-54. doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14

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    AMA Style

    Henry Tumwebaze Karamuriro, Wilfred Nahamya Karukuza. Determinants of Uganda’s Export Performance: A Gravity Model Analysis. Int J Bus Econ Res. 2015;4(2):45-54. doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14,
      author = {Henry Tumwebaze Karamuriro and Wilfred Nahamya Karukuza},
      title = {Determinants of Uganda’s Export Performance: A Gravity Model Analysis},
      journal = {International Journal of Business and Economics Research},
      volume = {4},
      number = {2},
      pages = {45-54},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijber.20150402.14},
      abstract = {Exports play an important role in Uganda’s economy, influencing the level of economic growth, employment and the Balance of Payments. Uganda has initiated several trade policy reforms aimed at promoting the export sector. However, Uganda’s share in total world exports is still very low. Given the central role of exports in the economy, it was important to identify the plausible factors affecting export flows between Uganda and its trading partners. Thus, this paper examines the factors affecting Uganda’s exports using an augmented gravity model of trade. The panel dataset used was for the period 1980 to 2012. The results suggest that Uganda’s GDP, importer’s GDP, importer’s GDP per capita, per capita GDP difference between Uganda and its trading partners, real exchange rate, official common language, and contiguity had a positive and statistically significant effect on Uganda’s exports. The study further, shows that the formation of COMESA and EAC had a significant positive effect on Uganda’s exports. On the other hand, Uganda’s GDP per capita and distance between Uganda and its trading partners had a negative effect on Uganda’s export flows. These results are important for trade policy formulation in order to ensure that Uganda’s export potential is exploited so as to enhance economic growth.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    T1  - Determinants of Uganda’s Export Performance: A Gravity Model Analysis
    AU  - Henry Tumwebaze Karamuriro
    AU  - Wilfred Nahamya Karukuza
    Y1  - 2015/03/06
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14
    T2  - International Journal of Business and Economics Research
    JF  - International Journal of Business and Economics Research
    JO  - International Journal of Business and Economics Research
    SP  - 45
    EP  - 54
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-756X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20150402.14
    AB  - Exports play an important role in Uganda’s economy, influencing the level of economic growth, employment and the Balance of Payments. Uganda has initiated several trade policy reforms aimed at promoting the export sector. However, Uganda’s share in total world exports is still very low. Given the central role of exports in the economy, it was important to identify the plausible factors affecting export flows between Uganda and its trading partners. Thus, this paper examines the factors affecting Uganda’s exports using an augmented gravity model of trade. The panel dataset used was for the period 1980 to 2012. The results suggest that Uganda’s GDP, importer’s GDP, importer’s GDP per capita, per capita GDP difference between Uganda and its trading partners, real exchange rate, official common language, and contiguity had a positive and statistically significant effect on Uganda’s exports. The study further, shows that the formation of COMESA and EAC had a significant positive effect on Uganda’s exports. On the other hand, Uganda’s GDP per capita and distance between Uganda and its trading partners had a negative effect on Uganda’s export flows. These results are important for trade policy formulation in order to ensure that Uganda’s export potential is exploited so as to enhance economic growth.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Economics and Statistics, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda

  • Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board, Kampala, Uganda

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