Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Deeper Integration

Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Deeper Integration PDF Author: Robert Z. Lawrence
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815722991
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Over the past decade, international economic liberalization has been pursued through both multilateral and regional arrangements. In the Uruguay Round, more than one hundred governments pledged their commitment to greater open trade in goods and services, and established new rules under the enforcement of the World Trade Organization. At the same time, however, many regional arrangements have been negotiated--including the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nonetheless, controversy still rages about these arrangements. Are regional arrangements stumbling blocks or, in fact building blocks for a more integrated and successful international economy? In this book, Robert A. Lawrence addresses this question and explains both sides of the debate. A volume of Brookings' Integrating National Economies Series

Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Deeper Integration

Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Deeper Integration PDF Author: Robert Z. Lawrence
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815722991
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Over the past decade, international economic liberalization has been pursued through both multilateral and regional arrangements. In the Uruguay Round, more than one hundred governments pledged their commitment to greater open trade in goods and services, and established new rules under the enforcement of the World Trade Organization. At the same time, however, many regional arrangements have been negotiated--including the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nonetheless, controversy still rages about these arrangements. Are regional arrangements stumbling blocks or, in fact building blocks for a more integrated and successful international economy? In this book, Robert A. Lawrence addresses this question and explains both sides of the debate. A volume of Brookings' Integrating National Economies Series

Multilateralizing Regionalism

Multilateralizing Regionalism PDF Author: Patrick Low
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521506018
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 743

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Book Description
A collection of revised papers from the 'Multilateralizing Regionalism' conference, held at the WTO in September 2007.

Multilateralism Or Regionalism?

Multilateralism Or Regionalism? PDF Author: Guido Glania
Publisher: CEPS
ISBN: 9290796030
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 121

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Book Description
This new book highlights the multifaceted effects of regional trade agreements and outlines the strategic options for EU trade policy. It points out what is new about this most recent phase of regionalism and analyzes the effects on economic welfare and trade transaction costs. The authors draw upon elements of game theory to explore a self-reinforcing mechanism that is resulting in a potentially damaging race for markets. They focus in particular on the multiple impacts of regionalism on the WTO and the multilateral trading order. The book arrives at an opportune time, as the Doha Round is reaching a critical phase.

Regionalism versus Multilateralism

Regionalism versus Multilateralism PDF Author: L. Alan Winters
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9703111149
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Book Description
November 1996 Do the forces that regional integration arrangements set up encourage or discourage a trend toward globally freer trade? We don't know yet. The literature on regionalism versus multilateralism is growing as economists and political scientists grapple with the question of whether regional integration arrangements are good or bad for the multilateral system. Are regional integration arrangements building blocks or stumbling blocks, in Jagdish Bhagwati's phrase, or stepping stones toward multilateralism? As economists worry about the ability of the World Trade Organization to maintain the GATT's unsteady yet distinct momentum toward liberalism, and as they contemplate the emergence of world-scale regional integration arrangements (the EU, NAFTA, FTAA, APEC, and, possibly, TAFTA), the question has never been more pressing. Winters switches the focus from the immediate consequences of regionalism for the economic welfare of the integrating partners to the question of whether it sets up forces that encourage or discourage evolution toward globally freer trade. The answer is, We don't know yet. One can build models that suggest either conclusion, but these models are still so abstract that they should be viewed as parables rather than sources of testable predictions. Winters offers conclusions about research strategy as well as about the world we live in. Among the conclusions he reaches: * Since we value multilateralism, we had better work out what it means and, if it means different things to different people, make sure to identify the sense in which we are using the term. * Sector-specific lobbies are a danger if regionalism is permitted because they tend to stop blocs from moving all the way to global free trade. In the presence of lobbies, trade diversion is good politics even if it is bad economics. * Regionalism's direct effect on multilateralism is important, but possibly more so is the indirect effect it has by changing the ways in which groups of countries interact and respond to shocks in the world economy. * Regionalism, by allowing stronger internalization of the gains from trade liberalization, seems likely to facilitate freer trade when it is initially highly restricted. * The possibility of regionalism probably increases the risks of catastrophe in the trading system. The insurance incentives for joining regional arrangements and the existence of shiftable externalities both lead to such a conclusion. So too does the view that regionalism is a means to bring trade partners to the multilateral negotiating table because it is essentially coercive. Using regionalism for this purpose may have been an effective strategy, but it is also risky. This paper - a product of the International Trade Division, International Economics Department - was prepared for a conference on regional integration sponsored by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, La Coru-a, Spain, April 26-27, 1996, and will appear in the conference proceedings.

Regionalism In Trade Policy: Essays On Preferential Trading

Regionalism In Trade Policy: Essays On Preferential Trading PDF Author: Arvind Panagariya
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
ISBN: 9813102888
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
The signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and recent expansions of the European Union have led to renewed efforts to create preferential trade areas (PTAs) around the world including Asia, Africa and Latin America. Because PTAs liberalize trade with union members but not the rest of the world, they are not necessarily a healthy development. By dividing the world into trade blocs, they also threaten to undermine the multilateral trading system.This collection of recently published essays by a leading critic of regionalism offers an assessment of the economic impact of PTAs on member countries and the world. The first set of essays present a theoretical analysis of the issues using simple economic models, and study the relationship between regionalism and multilateralism. Subsequent essays evaluate the role of PTAs in Asia, North America and Latin America. The general theme of the book is that, on balance, trade liberalization through PTAs is a mistake. Trade diversion, and the creation of complicated and discriminatory tariff regimes with increased tariffs for non-member countries — the consequences of PTAs — are likely to undermine the multilateral trading system.The book will be useful to academics as well as policy makers and policy analysts. Many of the essays have been featured in newspapers and journals such as the Financial Times, Economist, Journal of Commerce and International Herald Tribune. Some of these essays are already on many reading lists in the United States.

Regional Integration in West Africa

Regional Integration in West Africa PDF Author: Eswar Prasad
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815738544
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
" Assessing the potential benefits and risks of a currency union Leaders of the fifteen-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have set a goal of achieving a monetary and currency union by late 2020. Although some progress has been made toward achieving this ambitious goal, major challenges remain if the region is to realize the necessary macroeconomic convergence and establish the required institutional framework in a relatively short period of time. The proposed union offers many potential benefits, especially for countries with historically high inflation rates and weak central banks. But, as implementation of the euro over the past two decades has shown, folding multiple currencies, representing disparate economies, into a common union comes with significant costs, along with operational challenges and transitional risks. All these potential negatives must be considered carefully by ECOWAS leaders seeking tomeet a self-imposed deadline. This book, by two leading experts on economics and Africa, makes a significant analytical contribution to the debates now under way about how ECOWAS could achieve and manage its currency union, andthe ramifications for the African continent. "

Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements

Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements PDF Author: Aaditya Mattoo
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464815542
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 821

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Book Description
Deep trade agreements (DTAs) cover not just trade but additional policy areas, such as international flows of investment and labor and the protection of intellectual property rights and the environment. Their goal is integration beyond trade or deep integration. These agreements matter for economic development. Their rules influence how countries (and hence, the people and firms that live and operate within them) transact, invest, work, and ultimately, develop. Trade and investment regimes determine the extent of economic integration, competition rules affect economic efficiency, intellectual property rights matter for innovation, and environmental and labor rules contribute to environmental and social outcomes. This Handbook provides the tools and data needed to analyze these new dimensions of integration and to assess the content and consequences of DTAs. The Handbook and the accompanying database are the result of collaboration between experts in different policy areas from academia and other international organizations, including the International Trade Centre (ITC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism PDF Author: Tanja A. Börzel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199682305
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 705

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism - the first of its kind - offers a systematic and wide-ranging survey of the scholarship on regionalism, regionalization, and regional governance. Unpacking the major debates, leading authors of the field synthesize the state of the art, provide a guide to the comparative study of regionalism, and identify future avenues of research. Twenty-seven chapters review the theoretical and empirical scholarship with regard to the emergence of regionalism, the institutional design of regional organizations and issue-specific governance, as well as the effects of regionalism and its relationship with processes of regionalization. The authors explore theories of cooperation, integration, and diffusion explaining the rise and the different forms of regionalism. The handbook also discusses the state of the art on the world regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Eurasia, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Various chapters survey the literature on regional governance in major issue areas such as security and peace, trade and finance, environment, migration, social and gender policies, as well as democracy and human rights. Finally, the handbook engages in cross-regional comparisons with regard to institutional design, dispute settlement, identities and communities, legitimacy and democracy, as well as inter- and transregionalism.

Regionalism in Latin America

Regionalism in Latin America PDF Author: JOSÉ BRICEÑO-RUIZ
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000220591
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
This interdisciplinary edited volume explores the political economy of regionalism in Latin America. It identifies convergent forces which have existed in the region since its very conception and analyses these dynamics in their different historical, geographic and structural contexts. Particular attention is paid to key countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, as well as subregions like the Southern Cone and Central America. To understand the resilience of regionalism in Latin America, this book proposes to highlight four main issues. Firstly, that resilience is linked to mechanisms of self-enforcement that are part of the accumulation of experiences, institution building and common cultural features described in this book as regionalist acquis. Secondly, the elements and driving forces behind the promotion and expression of the regionalist acquis are influenced and shaped by nested systems in which social processes are inserted. Thirdly, when looking at systems, there is a particular influence by national and global ones, which condition the form and endurance of regional projects. Finally, beyond systems, the book highlights the relevance of agents as crucial players in the shaping of the resilience of regionalism in Latin America. This insightful collection will appeal to advanced students and researchers in international economics, international relations, international political economy, economic history and Latin American studies.

The Handbook of Global Trade Policy

The Handbook of Global Trade Policy PDF Author: Andreas Klasen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119167396
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 628

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Book Description
Provides a state-of-the-art overview of international trade policy research The Handbook of Global Trade Policy offers readers a comprehensive resource for the study of international trade policy, governance, and financing. This timely and authoritative work presents contributions from a team of prominent experts that assess the policy implications of recent academic research on the subject. Discussions of contemporary research in fields such as economics, international business, international relations, law, and global politics help readers develop an expansive, interdisciplinary knowledge of 21st century foreign trade. Accessible for students, yet relevant for practitioners and researchers, this book expertly guides readers through essential literature in the field while highlighting new connections between social science research and global policy-making. Authoritative chapters address new realities of the global trade environment, global governance and international institutions, multilateral trade agreements, regional trade in developing countries, value chains in the Pacific Rim, and more. Designed to provide a well-rounded survey of the subject, this book covers financing trade such as export credit arrangements in developing economies, export insurance markets, climate finance, and recent initiatives of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This state-of-the-art overview: Integrates new data and up-to-date research in the field Offers an interdisciplinary approach to examining global trade policy Introduces fundamental concepts of global trade in an understandable style Combines contemporary economic, legal, financial, and policy topics Presents a wide range of perspectives on current issues surrounding trade practices and policies The Handbook of Global Trade Policy is a valuable resource for students, professionals, academics, researchers, and policy-makers in all areas of international trade, economics, business, and finance.