In this research project, we attempt to examine the behavior of business cycles in Asia in order to deepen our understanding of and expand research on this topic. Given the importance of the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the United States in the region economy, we use these three...

Asia's economic significance has risen substantially over the past several decades. Further economic development in ASEAN, with its massive population, requires very efficient utilization of resources and cross-border cooperation. While ASEAN has much to gain from economic cooperation and...

Different in more ways than it is possible to easily enumerate, the formation of the United States and the European Union (EU) had a striking similarity of purpose: to increase citizens' welfare by uniting a collection of independent states, each with its own politics, culture, and economy. Of...

This paper examines the major drivers and draggers of regional economic cooperation and integration (RECI) in Asia and the Pacific (AP). Using both quantitative measures and qualitative evidence, it assesses the roles played by four key determinants of RECI across AP, its subregions, and...

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the at times problematic interplay of regional and bilateral treaties regulating international economic law. Though academics have long debated whether regional and bilateral instruments threaten the hegemony of the multilateral trading system, no...

This paper examines the effect of trade integration and comparative advantage on one of a country's institutions, which in turn inuences its economic efficiency. The environment we explore is one in which a country's lower classes may revolt and appropriate wealth owned by a ruling elite. The...

Although highly beneficial from a pragmatic point of view, Romania's accession in the European Union is problematic, especially in the long run and from a theoretical perspective. In the short run, adoption of european model emphasizes the advantages of economic integration. In the long run...

Preferences about the vertical distribution of power in federal systems are not well understood. I argue that negative historical experiences with higher-level governments can plausibly raise demands for exit strategies and a devolution of power. But integration, for instance delegating power...

In a two-country model with mobile capital we analyze decentralized social insurance policies. These policies are a compromise between the preferences of workers and capital owners. Due to wage bargaining, worker-based social insurance contributions are borne by capital owners. These...

What are the dynamic consequences of comprehensive integration shocks? The answer to this question appears all but trivial. We set up a dynamic macroeconomic model of a small open economy where both capital and labor are mobile and there are increasing returns to scale at the aggregate level....