As East Asia becomes increasingly integrated through market-driven trade and FDI activities, free trade agreements (FTAs) are proliferating. Consolidation of multiple and overlapping FTAs into a single East Asian FTA can help mitigate the harmful noodle bowl effects of different or competing...

We discuss thje role of the dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the context of a complex characterization of globalization.The dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is at present a controversial exercise at the...

The role of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in East Asia’s recovery from the recent global financial and economic crisis highlighted the PRC’s growing role as an engine of growth for the region. From the viewpoint of the PRC, there are many potential gains from entering into free...

This paper studies the export performance of the Euro Area and the majority of the Euro Area countries through a Constant Market Share Analysis. We keep a special focus on the three largest countries: Germany, France and Italy. The Constant Market Share Analysis provides a breakdown of an...

The paper describes the evolution of export shares and quantifies the contribution of the geographical and sectoral specialization for some industrial and emerging market economies between 1985 and 2003. While the strong growth of emerging countries as world competitors has lowered the market...

The rise of mega-regionals such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) suggests that the world trade system is fragmenting to the point it appears more like a jigsaw puzzle than a spaghetti bowl. There are both regional and global jigsaw...

This paper explores the relationship between preferential and multilateral trade liberalization at the sectoral level using a unique dataset that includes data on most favored nation (MFN) and bilateral preferential tariffs at the 4-digit ISIC level for 11 Latin American countries over the...

ASEAN has significant achievements to its credit. It is a durable and effective functioning entity, more so than any other regional organization in the developing world. For a region characterized by great diversity and a history of conflict, ASEAN has played a role in delivering relative peace...

There is a general consensus that trade between East Asia and South America is becoming increasingly important. However, we know little about the actual dynamic development of this inter-regional trade. This paper examines whether the trend of East Asia-South America trade is a general phenomena...

Our assessment of the competitiveness of the Hong Kong economy from various perspectives indicates that the overall competitiveness of Hong Kong economy has been improving during the past several years. However, from a longer term historical perspective, there are still a number of areas in...