Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion


Thesis Director

Teshome Abebe

Thesis Committee Member

Ali R. Moshtagh

Thesis Committee Member

Ahmed S. Abou-Zaid


The present research intends to find whether "landlockedness" has any impact on the exporting capacity of the landlocked countries. To meet that end, I carry out a panel data analysis of 104 countries including 30 landlocked countries. The Hausman test validates the random effect as an appropriate estimation strategy given the structure of the data and research questions in hand. A dummy variable is employed to capture the "landlockedness" and its impact on exporting performance of those countries. The variables openness and foreign direct investments are used to capture the economic health of the countries, other than penalized of being landlocked. Regional dummy for Africa is to assess the impact in the region. The main finding of the present research is the fact that "landlockedness" has a substantially adverse impact on the trading capability of the landlocked countries, as expected. The impact of openness and foreign direct investment do not turn convincing. The incidence of "landlockedness" is slightly higher in Africa among the geographical categories discussed in the research. Therefore, the African landlocked countries should be even more concerned about the economic integration among countries to ensure free transit of their goods to their trading partners.

Included in

Economics Commons