The paper explores the argument that trade between the Mercosur countries should be stimulated by preferential policies because of their geographic proximi - ty. That is, that the Mercosur countries are candidates for “natural” integration. The paper finds that, on average, transportation...

When the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) formally adopted the principle of “open regionalism” (OR) in its trade liberalization in 1991, many were optimistic that this approach suggested the bloc as a stepping stone toward global free trade. This optimistic view was reinforced by the...

This paper has two unique features: it deals with withdrawal from a customs union, which is a neglected aspect of international economic integration, and does so within a macroeconomic framework rather than standard general-partial equilibrium analysis. Withdrawal was in the British Labour...

The paper is confined to addressing the question of whether a relationship exists between ‘economic rights’ and ‘regional integration’; confined because the title has several manifestations and interpretations. I categorically assert that there is not: regional integration is governed by...