Whether international economic integration arrangements result in a more liberal trade at the multilateral level cannot be proven with ease. Integration may start this process, but it may also reverse it. New mega-integration deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Regional Comprehensive...

The paper studies the effects of regional integration on the incentives of mem - bers and non-members to undertake multilateral trade liberalization. Using a three- country political economy model with imperfect competion, it shows how regionalism can undermine support for multilateralism....

This paper develops new measures of multimodal transport connectivity, and uses a gravity model to show that improving performance could lead to major trade gains for the Asia-Pacific region. By improving multimodal connectivity by 5%, APEC would increase exports by around 4%, or between 2% and...

East Asia has rapidly become the third centre of gravity for global economic activity. North America is relatively well integrated with East Asia, but Europe is not. This paper explores the extent to which economic growth and trade poli - cy developments over the next decade will strengthen...

Traditional push-and-pull factors offered partial explanations to the size of large urban areas in the third world. Moreover, the growing literature in eco - nomic geography identifies an additional factor exacerbating the phenomenon, namely trade costs. The present study tests econometrically...

This study aims at assessing the prospects for a more liberal air passenger transport regime in the Asia Pacific region under the auspices of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The decades-old bilateral air services regime has been under pressure to reform for several years....

This paper uses a combination of empirical models to investigate how much of a problem the removal of barriers on trade between the ASEM countries is likely to pose for adjustment in the EU economies. While existing revealed comparative advantage and the relative height of barriers suggest that...

This study examines the development of trade between ASEAN and New Zealand. Indices of trade intensity and trade potential are used to analyse the intensity of existing trade for the period 1980~2010 and trade potential going forward. This is the first use of the trade potential method to assess...

Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) have recently become a central issue for economists and policy makers. Based on a new database developed by the World Bank on five Middle East and North African(MENA) countries at a very detailed product level, this article provides calculations of the average tariff...

Fifty years ago, Viner conjectured that customs unions may reduce the potential world welfare. The purpose of this note is to prove his conjecture rigorously using a simple and straightforward method. With respect to normative economics, this requires to show the possibility that, consecutively...