An account of intra-industry trade, 1993-2009： Patterns and determinants in Albanian case

This paper tries to describe Albanian merchandise trade flows through the lens of intra-industry trade （IIT） indices, which quantify the extent to which bilateral imports and exports are matched within sectors. It offers a summarizing view on intra-trade development for the whole post transition period of Albania. Two important stages of analyses are included in the material. Firstly, intra-industry trade share on total trade is explored through the classical measures of Grubel-Lloyd index; secondly, a comparative analysis with other region countries was applied to make possible an estimation of Albania＇s trade potentials as well as their geographical distributions. Grubel-Lloyd index at aggregated value averaged less than 45%, a moderate value that is similar to the regional economies but lower than the European countries.