Regional Integration, Institutional Dynamics and International Competitiveness

Regional economic integration has made considerable progress in the world economy which raises new challenges with respect to institutional change and for national and international economic policy. We consider the options of integration policy and major shifts in regional gravity centers and trade dynamics, respectively; moreover, new findings with respect to the role for trade in the context of growth accounting are integrated in the analysis. We emphasize that regional integration intensifies structural change – the emergence of larger regional integration areas creates new options for outsourcing and offshoring. The interdependence of regional integration dynamics and economic globalization implies new adjustment pressure in the field of locational competition and also raises pressure to reform institutions and policy patterns in a way that is consistent with internationalization.