Colouring the Balassa index: a hermeneutic approach towards Romanian meat imports

Colorindo o índice Balassa: uma abordagem hermenêutica para as importações de carne da Romênia

ABSTRACT:

Romania has good agricultural resources and declining meat consumption, yet the country’s meat imports are on the rise. This study uses Balassa’s idea to link national trade patterns to worldwide ones and extends it, for the period between 2004 and 2019, to the ratio between prices and to the ratio between variables describing intra-industry trade. For price ratios, this study showed that Romania imported primarily inferior qualities of meat, particularly at the beginning of the study period. Regarding intra-industry trade, the Romanian trend moves in the opposite direction to the worldwide trend. Although, the trade of meat parts compared with whole/ half carcasses is on the rise internationally, it is declining in Romania, probably due to increasing competitiveness of the industry.

Key words:
Romania; meat trade; quality; Balassa Index; prices