The East Asian region is a major global economic player, given its economic size and potential. As such, Regional Economic Integration in East Asia could be considered as an important building bloc toward integration of the Asia-Pacific region. East Asia has made significant progress in creating...

This study brings together two major sources of growth in the modern economy: trade and new ideas. Trade is a crucial process to improve economic specialisation and raise the productivity of economies. It is also a channel to diffuse technology and knowledge across countries. International...

We propose a model of trade agreements in which contracting is costly, and as a consequence the optimal agreement may be incomplete. Inspite of its simplicity, the model yields rich predictions on the structure of the optimal trade agreement and how this depends on the fundamentals of the...

Since the beginning of 2017, a paradigm change in international trade policy is observed. While the protectionist agendas are on the rise, the EU and Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on 17 July 2018. It is the most ambitious agreement of the EU with any Asian state. The study...

With less than two years after its ratification, many of the economic gains expected under JPEPA have yet to be realized. But while critics may be quick to judge its failure due to this seeming lack of progress, neither have there been costs and dislocations that should have been more...

This paper compiles a database on the rules of origin (ROOs) of the ASEAN plus 1 FTAs - namely ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, ASEAN-Korea FTA, ASEAN-China FTA, ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership, ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA. For further insights, database compilation is also...

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement seems to have reached a crossroads: it could either be a building block toward achieving economic integration in Asia and the Pacific, or trigger the formation of two large trade blocs which will work independently of one another. When the Government...