Disentangling the Impact of Wars and Sanctions on International Trade: Evidence from Former Yugoslavia

Wars and sanctions tend to reduce the trade of the countries involved. However, these events often occur concurrently, which complicates the assessment of their effects. This article studies the case of the former Yugoslavia to disentangle the respective effects of these events. We show that the wars and sanctions caused a reduction in trade not only between the countries involved but also with other countries. Moreover, the impact of the sanctions on trade volume is more pronounced than the impact of war. Finally, we show that the effects of both war and sanctions persisted for several years after they ended.