The determinants of foreign trade development in the Republic of India

Bc. Abel Nelson Christie

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

International trade is one of the most significant ways to grow the global economy. With its aid, labor productivity is enhanced, and production output likewise rises. India's economic situation is undoubtedly impacted by foreign trade. However, India's GDP grew more quickly in the last ten years than its foreign trade did. The main aim of the present Bachelor thesis is to identify the determinants of foreign trade development in the Republic of India between the time period 1990-2020. Indian economy with its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades (IMF, 2011) was considered as one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Since it is the third-largest economy by purchasing power parity (IMF, 2021), it becomes interesting to investigate how foreign trade contributed to this success over the last 30 years. Descriptive statistical analysis and qualitative thematic synthesis of the main economic indicators will be used to analyse the determinants of foreign trade development in the Republic of India. Own research work will be mainly based on RCA index analysis (e.g. Balassa, Vollrath, Lafay) along with comparative techniques and statistical inference. As a result, we managed to figure out which countries were the main trade partners for India in the beginning of the analyzed period and which of them became key partners at the end (both importers and exporters); what goods constitute the bulk of foreign trade turnover in India; trade in what items had demonstrated a revealed comparative advantage over the analyzed period; what was the dynamics of associated macroeconomic indicators in India; what other factors were playing an important role in economic development of India

Keywords

Foreign trade, Economic growth, Economic development, foreign trade investment, Export, Import, Foreign trade turnover, Trading products, Republic of India, RCA, Trade partners

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 3. 12. 2023

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 6. 2. 2024
• Supervisor: Mgr. Elena Kuzmenko, Ph.D.
• Reader: Pavlína Hálová, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Bachelor programme:
Business Administration