2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/415474How does the process of export diversification play out in a transitioning economy, especially in light of government policy aimed at trade liberalization? This paper examines this question by considering a directed policy effort by Syria -- an economy transitioning from both economic centralization and resource dependence -- to liberalize its trade in 2001. In addition to documenting the patterns of diversification at the aggregate level since the implementation of the policy, we also examine factors that are related to diversification at the sectoral level. Our findings suggest that, while Syria has achieved reasonably rapid export diversification, this may to a large extent be the result of structural transformations in the economy, and that further consolidation of diversification gains may require continued policy reform along the lines of strengthening Syria's weak institutional and business environment.application/pdftext/plainCC BY 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/World BankABSOLUTE TERMSAGGREGATE LEVELAGRICULTURAL EXPORTSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTUREANNUAL GROWTHANNUAL GROWTH RATEAPPARELAVERAGE TARIFFAVERAGE TARIFFSBALANCE OF PAYMENTSBARRIERS TO ENTRYBENCHMARKSBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTCAPITAL GOODSCENTRALIZATIONCOMMAND ECONOMYCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGESCOMPETITIVENESSCOMPETITIVENESS OF FIRMSCROSS-COUNTRY LEVELCUSTOMSDEPENDENT VARIABLEDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT INDICATORSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDISAGGREGATED LEVELECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIC POLICIESECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC REFORMECONOMIC REFORMSECONOMIC RESEARCHELIMINATION OF TARIFFSEMPIRICAL LITERATUREESSENTIAL OILSESTIMATED COEFFICIENTSEXCHANGE RATESEXPLANATORY VARIABLESEXPORT BASKETEXPORT BASKETSEXPORT DIVERSIFICATIONEXPORT GROWTHEXPORT GUARANTEE FUNDEXPORT INTENSITYEXPORT MARKETEXPORT MARKETSEXPORT OPPORTUNITIESEXPORT PATTERNSEXPORT PERFORMANCEEXPORT PROCEEDSEXPORT PRODUCTSEXPORT PROMOTIONEXPORT PROMOTION AGENCYEXPORT SECTORSEXPORT SHAREEXPORT SHARESEXPORT STRUCTUREEXPORTERSEXPORTSFATSFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN TRADEFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AREAFULL LIBERALIZATIONGDPGDP PER CAPITAGINI INDEXGLOBAL LEVELGLOBAL TRADINGGOVERNMENT SUBSIDIESGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROWTH PERFORMANCEGROWTH POTENTIALGROWTH RATEIMPORT PRICEIMPORTSINDUSTRIAL POLICYINDUSTRIAL PRODUCTSINDUSTRIALIZATIONINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNATIONAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL TRADEMACROECONOMIC FACTORSMEDIUM TERMMONOPOLYNATURAL ENDOWMENTSNEGATIVE SIGNNET EXPORTERNET EXPORTER OF OILNON-TARIFF BARRIERSNONTARIFF TRADE BARRIERSOIL EXPORTERSOIL PRICESOIL REVENUESOUTPUT PER CAPITAPLANNED ECONOMYPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY INTERVENTIONPOLICY MEASURESPOLICY RESEARCHPRICE GUARANTEESPROCESS OF DEVELOPMENTPRODUCTION OUTPUTPRODUCTIVITYPUBLIC POLICYREDUCTION IN TARIFFSREGIONAL TRADEREGRESSION ANALYSISRELATIVE IMPORTANCESPECIALIZATIONSTANDARD DEVIATIONSTATE INTERVENTIONSTATE-OWNED ENTERPRISESSTRUCTURAL CHANGETARIFF BARRIERSTARIFF CHANGESTARIFF RATETARIFF REDUCTIONTARIFF SCHEDULETOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE BARRIERSTRADE CENTERTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FLOWSTRADE INDICATORSTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE OPENNESSTRADE PERFORMANCETRADE POLICIESTRADE POLICYTRADE POLICY REFORMSTRADE VOLUMETRADE VOLUMESTRANSITION ECONOMIESTRANSITION ECONOMYTRANSITION PROCESSVALUE ADDEDWORLD TRADE