The determinants of foreign trade development in the Federal Republic of Germany

Saltanat Tungyshbayeva

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

The main aim of the present Bachelor thesis is to disclose the determinants of foreign trade development in the Federal Republic of Germany. Since Germany possesses a highly skilled labour force, a low level of corruption, and a high level of innovation (as World Factbook and Transparency International reported in 2020), it becomes interesting to investigate how successfully these factors may form the structure of German foreign trade. The theoretical part of the Bachelor thesis will be mainly based on a relevant literature review (represented by printed literature, scientific articles, surveys, web sources) and the research of similar studies, using methods such as abstraction, inductive reasoning, analysis, synthesis, and deduction. The practical part will contain descriptive statistical analysis and qualitative thematic synthesis of the main economic indicators and selected for the analysis variables. Own research work will be mainly based on RCA index analysis along with comparative techniques and statistical inference. In principle, Germany's choice of the "open" economy model and liberalization of foreign trade was certainly the right one. However, there was not enough clarity and precision in the interpretation of the essence of openness and in the definition of the strategy and tactics of its achievement from the very beginning of the reforms. Two approaches, two points of view emerged: understanding it as a quick "shock" liberalization of foreign economic activity and, on the contrary, as a process that has a gradual nature and requires an active, transformative role of the state.

Keywords

RCA, Germany, Index analysis

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 15. 3. 2023

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 18. 5. 2023
• Supervisor: Mgr. Elena Kuzmenko, Ph.D.
• Reader: Pavel Kotyza, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Bachelor programme:
Business Administration