EU International Trade Impact on Regional Retail Markets of Neighboring Countries

Abstract

A better understanding of regional market structure influenced by international market trends can be used to determine the characteristics and concentration of local retail markets, as well as retailers’ reactions to import-export relations and changes influenced by cross-border factors. The purpose of the research is to develop and analyse a model of the impact of the internal and external indicators on the structure and state of the domestic regional market with the use of the structural equation modelling analysis. Analysis determined that retail domestic trade is the main source of household income of the Ukrainian part of the Carpathian area. The development of the economic level of households is important for the development of the domestic trade structure and ensuring further economic integration of Ukraine into the EU. The results of our study provide a practical opportunity to predict possible scenarios and key factors of such integration.