Landlockedness as a challenge for development: the case of Armenia

Abstract

This research aims to find the main challenges of the landlocked states and identify how the landlockedness affects their development. In this regard, the study uses the following research tools: a meta-analysis of the other researches, a two-stage regression analysis of data from World Bank, IMF and UN Datasets, semi-structured in-depth interviews and document analysis of agreements and strategy papers. The findings are grouped into two main parts. The first part discusses the overall development problems of landlocked states, while the second part of the research focuses on Armenia as a landlocked country. The first stage of the analysis shows that the landlockedness creates additional 1070 $ export cost per container. Besides, it identifies that the landlockedness affects country’s development through the export cost by 5.8%. The second part of the research illustrates Armenia’s specific characteristics as a landlocked state. The research concludes that except for several developed landlocked states, their overall level of development is lower than that of the coastal neighbors. The hypothesis is approved because the landlockedness highly affects the export cost and decreases the HDI by 5.8%, which is 1/3 of the HID’s standard deviation. However, the development related issues that Armenia faces are not primarily caused by its landlockedness.