Post-Soviet Trade, the Russia’s Far East and the Shift to Asia

Abstract

This chapter examines the position of the Russian Far East (RFE) in the global trade landscape, comparing its trade patterns and development with those of other Russian regions and CIS countries. The analysis rests on four pillars:

• 1. International trade data are used to elucidate trade patterns in the former Soviet area, with a global focus and with particular attention to how the growth of Asia has affected trade.

• 2. Data on the international trade of Russian federal districts and the RFE are used to examine RFE trade and how it differs from that of other Russian regions.

• 3. Third, numerical simulation of a world trade model is used to shed light on whether trade integration can promote industrial diversification and intra-industry trade in differentiated manufactured goods for countries and regions in the area.

• 4. The three angles provide different pieces of information; combining them makes possible a comprehensive assessment of post-Soviet trade and the RFE-Asia trade link.

I thank the editors for very useful comments to earlier drafts; and also the participants at the inaugural project conference in Singapore December 16–18, 2013 for feedback. Thanks also to Roman Vakulchuk for assistance in accessing Russian regional data, and to Susan Høivik for very useful language editing of the manuscript.