BRICS-United Nations regional groups’ trade patterns : a panel-gravity approach

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the similarities in the foreign trade patterns of China and the other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) members. Design/methodology/approach: Three panel data estimations, namely, fixed effect, random effect and fully modified ordinary least squares, have been conducted in this paper based on the gravitational model of international trade for bilateral trade of each BRICS member with five United Nations (UN) regional groups from 2001 to 2015. Findings: The results revealed that Russia has a dissimilar trade pattern, based on the Heckscher–Ohlin (H-O) framework, with these five regional groups, while the other BRICS members follow the Linder hypothesis. Furthermore, it was found that China has a faster pace of globalization, while the rest of the BRICS members have experienced regionalization rather than globalization. In addition, geographical distance, as a proxy for transportation cost, has a weaker negative effect on the trade patterns of China and India, which makes the trade patterns of BRICS members dissimilar. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to examine and compare the BRICS member countries’ foreign trade pattern through a gravity trade approach.