Candidacy Before Membership: Trade Effects in the Western Balkans A Structural Gravity and Event-Time Difference-in-Differences Study
This thesis asks whether European Union candidacy, as an intermediate stage prior to accession, increases bilateral trade between Western Balkan candidates and EU members. The methodology combines a structural-gravity framework estimated by PPML with a heterogeneity-robust staggered difference-in-differences event study, using directional dyad–year goods trade for 2006–2019 and exporter×year, impo
