THE EFFECT OF AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION USING PANEL DATA

Abstract

The contribution of this paper is investigating the effect of agricultural exports on economic growth in South Eastern Europe Countries since it’s never been treated before. To attempt this aim annual data was collected from the World Bank for the period 2006 – 2016 and was tested by using correlation analysis and the static gravity model. Empirical analyses show that agricultural exports have a positive strong correlation with gross domestic product and have a positive effect on economic growth. These results appear that agricultural exports are a provenance of economic growth in South Eastern Europe Countries. For this reason, it is very important to refine investment in agricultural sector, and create more effective agricultural trade openness policies.