The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the trade flows of South Korea with
the Middle East and North African MENA countries, based on the gravity model, and to suggest
possible techniques to increase Korean trade by pointing out the essential variables determining
trade flows. The gravity model presumes that trade flows between two countries are positively
linked to their population and economic size. We analyze pooled Ordinary Least Squares OLS,
Fixed effects FE, and Random effects RE estimation methods to examine selected variables'
role in Korean-MENA trade growth. The findings show that distance does diminish trade. By
analyzing a modified gravity equation of panel data estimations for Korean trade with the
MENA region over 28 years, we find that for some regressions, the variables of oil rents of
GDP and trade openness have a significant impact on Korean-MENA trade flows.
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