An important facet of "globalization" is the spread of cross-border production, which is variously known as intra-product specialization, super-specialization, or production fragmentation. This advanced stage in the international division of labor works particularly well between high-wage...

Does offshore sourcing by domestic producers destroy jobs? Does it lower wages? To a growing number of observers the answer to both questions appears to be affirmative. This paper examines the issue in the context of a conventional trade framework that has been amended to allow production to be...

This paper begins with a review of the domestic sources of US trade policy and the external influences on that policy. It then examines changes in the external orientation of US manufacturing, focusing in particular on the rapidly spreading phenomenon of offshore production of parts and and...

This study examines the major arguments for and against enhanced monetary integration in North America, with particular emphasis on the Canadian perspective. In this context, the question is whether the current floating rate regime should be replaced by greater fixity of exchange rates in...

This paper discusses an approach to "open regionalism" based on regional production networks and component specialization. Component specialization, or intra-product trade, has been shown to be welfare-enhancing. It creates jobs and raises output by improving competitiveness. It is one of the...

This chapter investigates the contribution of cross-border production networks to the international competitiveness of a nation's producers. Cross-border sourcing of components has effects on productivity and efficiency that are very similar to those of technical progress. When a country's...

This paper examines the effect of cross-border production sharing on the sensitivity of trade to the exchange rate and to other key variables. Theoretically, the response of a country's exports to the exchange rate should decline as the share of exported components for use in the manufacture of...

What is the appropriate exchange rate regime for the emerging economies of Eastern Europe? Would a given regime suit all of them equally? Is there a regime that is as appropriate for the transition as for the long run? What are the relative merits of fixed and flexible rates in this context and...

This paper examines the implications of cross-border production fragmentation in the context of regional integration, using both general- and partial-equilibrium approaches. It shows the conditions under which fragmentation converts a trade-diverting FTA into a trade creating one. It assesses...