Different starting conditions and decision-making mechanisms of European and East Asian economic integration are identified. They have led to different paths of integration. The EU process had a major impact on political stability in Europe; it has increased economic stability, at the expense of...

124 Regional Trade Agreements were notified to the GATT during the period 1948-1994. Since 1995, over 130 agreements have been notified to the WTO. Using empirical evidence, this paper proposes a way of measuring levels of regional integration and examines several potential explanations for the...

Using a gravity model for 35 countries and the years 1995-2006 we estimate the impact of regional trade agreements in Africa (in particular ECOWAS and SADC) and compare this to the a benchmark of North South trade integration (Europe's preferential trade agreement). We find that - ECOWAS and...

Regional economic integration is back in vogue following the "stumble" in the Doha Round in July 2008. Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are driving this trend in Asia and the Pacific as well as in Central and South America, and the sheer volume of PTAs is striking. In the 1990s there were...

This paper distills some policy lessons from the financial services integration program in the European Union for East Asia. Focusing on the improved cross-border facilitation of financial flows rather than on general macroeconomic factors related to optimal currency area formation, the paper...

Regional economic integration in East Asia is characterized initially as a market-driven process of increased trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, and eventually by formal arrangements to liberalize trade and integrate economic activities through free trade agreements (FTAs) among...

This paper contributes to the empirical literature by providing a quantitative measurement of the influence of regional trade integration on productivity. For this purpose we address the link between trade and productivity thanks to knowledge spillovers in a multi-country model. The...

We use a model of combined endogenous growth and economic geography to study the impact of regional economic integration on the member and non-member countries of a regional union. Regional integration affects growth through interregional technology diffusion symbolized by knowledge spillovers...

Economic integration affects economic development through two main channels: growth and localization of the economic activities. The theories of endogenous growth and economic geography enable us to understand these mechanisms. We study in this paper their similarities and specificities before...

The African Continental Free Trade Area marks a historic decision on the road to regional economic integration on the continent. If implemented, the agreement has the potential to make a significant impact on improving the livelihoods of the African people, by increasing intra-African trade and...