The following article deals with the conditions under which regional associations in the Third World can improve the economic situation of the developing countries and the question how suitable they are for this purpose.

In the traditional model of international trade, labour market reforms in one country are often viewed as beggar-thy-neighbour policies, because they negatively affect the competitiveness and employment levels of the country’s trading partners. Empirical evidence, however, suggests that this...

The Asian Pacific countries do not only show unparalled growth dynamics, they are also in the process of growing ever closer together. There is already talk of the creation of a new economic bloc. The following article analyses private direct investment in the Asian Pacific area, an element in...

East Asian nations, which not long ago were counted among the more backward, are emerging as dramatically expanding markets as well as tough competitors for the United States. Predictions are that the Pacific-rim economy will expand twice as fast as the rest of the world. Professor Jens...

Japan's meteoric economic rise, the hardly less impressive growth of a number of newly industrialised countries in South-East Asia and the enormous mineral wealth of the region have long caused academic and political observers to show keen interest in the economies of the Pacific. Proposals for...