Assessing Integration of Agricultural Markets in the Transboundary Region of the Great Altai

The Great Altai is an important transboundary region for developing trade and economic cooperation among Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. Agricultural products are important outputs contributing to regional economic integration in the cross-border area. The study aims at quantifying the recent integration of the regional agricultural markets within the transboundary area. Based on time series of statistical data by the Great Altai regions and countries and the in-depth data analysis combining causal approach, Granger causality and cross-correlation techniques, we investigated the overall index of agricultural market integration, including its decomposition for the main agricultural products and regions. We compared the obtained estimates with the regional price integration into the national markets. We revealed that predominantly regional markets are highly integrated into the national economy. The overall index of price integration in the transboundary region is low. However, high integration indices are obtained for certain pairs of regions. The highest degree of integration was observed in the grain and meat markets. The results add to the theories of international economic integration and transboundary economic cooperation. The results deepen the understanding of economic integration, important for developing long-term cooperation among the Great Altai countries and improving the policy for commodity market balancing, including measures to protect domestic producers