Navigating Determinants of India’s Business Relations with GCC Countries : Evidence from the Gravity Model Theory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17010/pijom/2022/v15i6/170021Keywords:
GCC Countries
, Business Relations, Trade Potential, Trade Equilibrium, Gravity Model.JEL Classification Code
, C1, F10, F13, F14, F15, F17.Paper Submission Date
, July 30, 2021, Paper sent back for Revision, January 18, 2022, Paper Acceptance Date, March 10, Paper Published Online, June 15, 2022.Abstract
This research paper examined the determinants of India’s business relations with Gulf Cooperation Council countries from 1995 – 2019 using the gravity model theory based on the theoretical underpinning of Nobel Laureate Jan Tinbergen. The study focused on identifying variables that influenced India’s trade with GCC countries along with predicting the trade potential. The empirical findings were obtained through the random-effects model and fixed effects model. The Hausman test suggested that the random-effects model was more appropriate than the fixed effect model. The findings of the study stated that the GDP of India, GDP of Gulf countries, the population of Gulf countries, India’s economic integration with the world, India’s economic integration with GCC, trading affinity, and diaspora had a positive and significant impact on India’s bilateral trade relations with GCC, while foreign direct investment had a positive and insignificant impact. The analysis further revealed that distance, terms of trade, exchange rate, and language had a negative and significant effect on bilateral trade relations. The market size of the host country had a negative but insignificant impact on India’s trade with GCC. India has trade potential with Bahrain and Kuwait, while India has overtraded other GCC countries. The negative value of the coefficient of convergence of actual trade and potential trade indicated a lack of equilibrium in India’s estimated trade flows with GCC countries, but the insignificant p-value did not support the argument. A strong economic tie with GCC will boost the Indian industry and offer a strategic edge internationally.Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
References
Abbas, K. (2019). India’s growing influence in the Gulf states: Political, strategic and economic risks for Pakistan. IPRI Journal, 19(2), 60–95. https://doi.org/10.31945/iprij.190203
Alam, I., & Ahmed, S. (2018). India’s trade with gulf cooperation council (GCC) countries: A panel gravity model analysis. Journal of Academic Research in Economics, 10(2), 248–260. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328429188
Aljebrin, M. A. (2012). The determinants of Arab countries demand for Saudi exports: Panel data evidences. Research in World Economy, 3(2), 20–28. https://doi.org/10.5430/rwe.v3n2p20
Anderson, J. E. (1979). A theoretical foundation for the gravity equation. The American Economic Review, 69(1), 106 – 116. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1802501
Anwar, S., & Nguyen, L. P. (2011). Foreign direct investment and export spillovers: Evidence from Vietnam. International Business Review, 20(2), 177–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2010.11.002
Arun, S. (2017, December 05). Foreign trade policy: Government announces incentives worth Rs. 8,450 cr to boost export. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/foreign-trade-policy-government-announces-incentives-worth-8450-cr-to-boost-exports/article21268303.ece
Azmi, R. (2006). GCC ‘Looks East’: Saudi Arabia’s engagements with India. India Quarterly, 62(4), 124–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/097492840606200406
Bahmani-Oskooee, M., & Hegerty, S. W. (2007). Exchange rate volatility and trade flows: A review article. Journal of Economic Studies, 34(3), 211–255. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443580710772777
Batra, A. (2006). India’s global trade potential: The gravity model approach. Global Economic Review, 35(3), 327–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/12265080600888090
Binh, D. T., Duong, N. V., & Cuong, H. M. (2011). Applying the gravity model to analyze trade activities of Vietnam. Forum for Research in Empirical International Trade Working Paper, 1–24. https://freit.org/WorkingPapers/Papers/TradePatterns/FREIT639.pdf
Chen, K.-M., Rau H.-H., & Chiu, R.-L. (2011). Determinants of China’s exports to the United States and Japan. The Chinese Economy, 44(4), 19–41. https://doi.org/10.2753/CES1097-1475440402
De, P. (2010). Global economic and financial crisis: India’s trade potential and prospects, and implications for Asian regional integration. Journal of Economic Integration, 25(1), 32–68. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23000965
Dhamija, R., & Singh, K. (2018). A study on impact FDI flows on poverty reduction in India. Prabandhan: Indian Journal of Management, 11(7), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.17010/pijom/2018/v11i7/129942
Dunlevy, J. A., & Hutchinson, W. K. (1999). The impact of immigration on American import trade in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Journal of Economic History, 59(4), 1043 – 1062. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S002205070002413X.
Eichengreen, B., & Irwin, D. A. (1995). Trade blocs, currency blocs and the reorientaion of world trade in the 1930s. Journal of International Economics, 38(1–2), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1996(95)92754-P
Fitzsimons, E., Hogan, V., & Neary, J. P. (1999). Explaining the volume of North-South trade in Ireland: A gravity model approach. The Economic & Social Review, 30(4), 381–401. http://hdl.handle.net/2262/62599
Gujarati, D. N., Porter, D. C., & Gunasekar, S. (2017). Basic econometrics. McGraw Hill Education.
Gunawardana, P. J., & Sharma, K. (2010). The determinants of Australian manufacturing export performance. Journal of International Finance and Economics, 10(2), 77–86.
Jakab, Z. M., Kovacs, M. A., & Oszlay, A. (2001). How far has trade integration has advanced ? : An analysis of the actual and potential trade of three central and Eastern European countries. Journal of Comparative Economics, 29(2), 276–292. https://doi.org/10.1006/jcec.2001.1709
Jan, W. U., & Shah, M. (2019). A gravity model approach towards Pakistan’s Bilateral Trade with SAARC countries. Comparative Economic Research. Central and Eastern Europe, 22(4), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.2478/cer-2019-0030
Kandilov, I. T. (2008). The effect of exchange rate volatility on agricultural trade. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 90(4), 1028–1043. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8276.2008.01167.x
Karayil, S. B. (2007). Does migration matter in trade? A study of India’s exports to the GCC countries. South Asia Economic Journal, 8(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/139156140600800101
Kaur, S., & Nanda, P. (2011). An analysis of actual and potential exports of Pakistan with SAARC countries: A panel data analysis. Pakistan Journal of Applied Economics, 21(1–2), 69–91. http://aerc.edu.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Article_9PPR-454-V-1.pdf
Khayat, S. H. (2019). A gravity model analysis for trade between the GCC And developed countries. Cogent Economics & Finance, 7(1), Article 1703440. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2019.1703440
Kimura, F., & Lee, H.- H. (2006). The gravity equation in international trade in services. Review of World Economics, 142(1), 92–121. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40441082
Kumar, S., & Ahmed, S. (2015). Gravity model by panel data approach: An empirical application with implications for South Asian countries. Foreign Trade Review, 50(4), 233–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0015732515598587
Kumar, R., & Ranjan, R. (2012). Evolution of Indo-GCC trade relations: The last two decades. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Research, 2(4), 1–8. http://www.tjprc.org/publishpapers/--1354525359-1.%20Merged%20formatting%20files-Economics.pdf
Linnemann, H. (1966). An economic study of international trade flows (Vol. 234). North - Holland Publishing Company.
Mehta, S. S. (1989). Indo-Arab economic relations. Foreign Trade Review, 24(1), 98–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0015732515890105
Melitz, J. (2008). Language and foreign trade. European Economic Review, 52(4), 667–699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2007.05.002
Narayan, S., & Nguyen, T. T. (2016). Does the trade gravity model depend on trading partners? Some evidence from Vietnam and her 54 trading partners. International Review of Economics & Finance, 41, 220–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2015.08.010
Noland, M. (2005). Affinity and international trade. Available at SSRN. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.739884
Pethiyagoda, K. (2017). India-GCC relations: Delhi’s strategic opportunity. Brookings India. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/7522
Poyhonen, P. (1963). A tentative model for the volume of trade between countries. Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 90, 93 – 100. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40436776
Pradhan, P. K. (2010). India and gulf cooperation council: Time to look beyond business. Strategic Analysis, 34(3), 409 – 419. https://doi.org/10.1080/09700161003659103
Pradhan, S. R. (2006). India’s export potential to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: A gravity model analysis. Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (Post Workshop Reports). https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.532.8089&rep=rep1&type=pdf
RigiLadez, S., & Khan, M. A. (2014). Trade relations between India and Gulf cooperation council countries - An empirical study. International Research Journal of Business and Management, 7(11), 41–47. http://irjbm.org/irjbm2013/Nov2014/Paper7.pdf
Sahu, P. K., & Heng, S. Y. (2017). India’s competitive advantage and export performance: A gravity model approach. Arthshastra Indian Journal of Economics & Research, 6(6), 23–37. https://doi.org/10.17010/aijer/2017/v6i6/120115
Sarin, V. (2018). Understanding India–ASEAN trading ties using gravity model approach. International Journal of Agricultural and Statistics Sciences, 14(1), 223–229.
Singh, R. K., Singh, B., & Chauhan, D. (2018). India’s trade relations with SAARC countries in pre and post SAFTA periods: An evaluation of trade flows by using multiple regression model. Arthshastra Indian Journal of Economics & Research, 7(6), 43–59. https://doi.org/10.17010/aijer/2018/v7i6/141433
Vieira, F. V., & MacDonald, R. (2016). Exchange rate volatility and exports: A panel data analysis. Journal of Economic Studies, 43(2), 203–221. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-05-2014-0083
Yean, T. S., & Yi, A. K. (2014). Reassessing the impact of the ASEAN-India free trade agreement. Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, 48(2), 99–110. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781351013598-4