Manufacturing exports and institutional qualities in Central Asian countries

This paper evaluates the export values of manufactured goods for the Central Asian countries using a gravity trade model and investigates the roles of institutional qualities in manufacturing exports based on the World Governance Indicators. The findings of this study are summarized as follows. With Kazakhstan being a benchmark country, the remaining four Central Asian countries have downward deviations in manufacturing exports and institutional qualities. Then, the institutional qualities such as control of corruption, government effectiveness and rule of law are identified to be the major factors to explain the differences in the manufacturing exports' performances.