DETERMINANTS OF EXPORT PERFORMANCE IN SOME EAST AFRICAN COUNTRIES: A PANEL REGRESSION ANALYSIS

This article investigates the determinants of export performance in some East African countries include Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi employing panel regression analysis. The present study utilizes secondary data from Ivan Kushnir’s research centre data base for the period spanning from 1970 to 2013. Furthermore, the study examined the panel unit root test using the Levin, Lin, and Chu (LLC) and panel co-integration test using Pedroni residuals co integration and Fisher test based on a combined Johansen test. Thereafter, this study employ fixed effect model to examine the determinants of export performance in the respective countries after confirming that this model is appropriate as per Hausman test results. The empirical findings reveal that all variables are non stationary at level and stationary at first difference. Again, all variables found to be co integrated as such have long run relationship. Results further show that GDP and imports are important determinants of export performance since have positive signs and statistically significant at 5 percent level of significance. Therefore, the respective governments, practitioners and other beneficiaries should earmark in GDP growth and imports in order to improve export growth in East African countries and ultimately improve economic growth at large.