As the multilateral trade negotiations launched at Qatar in 2001 reeled from one collapse to another before stalling with no obvious end in sight in 2008, economies seeking new commercial opportunities turned en masse to the pursuit of bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs). Indeed...

This paper investigates prospects of a currency union in East Asia, focusing on trade and financial integration occurring in the region. We find, based on a dynamic factor model, regional common shocks have been quantitatively important for output variations in the Asian economies. We expect...