East Asian nations through the dialogue between ASEAN and its partners have been promoting energy market integration (EMI) for a decade. The formation of the East Asian Summit (EAS) group in 2005 adds new momentum to the EMI course in the region. The objective of this edited volume is to present new insights into the understanding of EMI in East Asia and draw implications for further development. This book is the first publication of its kind exclusively focusing on EMI in East Asia. The chapters are written by a distinguished group of specialists in the field of energy policy, business and economics. The covered topics range from the general debates about EMI to regional policy responses. A variety of qualitative and quantitative methods are employed in this book. For qualitative methods, public goods theory and the comparative study method are two examples. The quantitative methods include economic growth theory, principle component approach, input-output table, computable general equilibrium (CGE) models and econometric techniques. Important policy implications can be drawn from the findings. One clear message is that EMI should be promoted actively but in a gradual, incremental manner. Other policy implications are related to inter-regional governance, infrastructure development and gas market integration. The content has not been published elsewhere and hence makes a unique contribution to the literature. There are also case studies of specific energy sectors such as petroleum and natural gas. Overall this book should be of interest to a wide audience such as academia, business analysts and policy makers.

This paper measures the current energy market integration (EMI) in the East Asia 16 countries including the ASEAN 10 countries, China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand by using the principal component analysis (PCA) approach. The comprehensive EMI index has four important components: (1) energy trade liberalization; (2) energy infrastructure development; (3) energy market liberalization; and (4) energy pricing liberalization. This is done by the two steps. I first construct the four indicators using the PCA approach, respectively. After the predicted observation for the four indicators are obtained, I once again adopt the PCA method to calculate the EMI index. The scores show that countries like Japan and New Zealand have the highest extents of energy market integration. In contrast, countries like China and Malaysia, and India have lowest scores of EMI. The CLMV countries are located in the between. Such results are robust by different measure or different data adopted.

Electricity market reform has been implemented in many countries and regions in the world. There is no doubt that electricity consumption continues to increase in East Asia. Electricity market integration in East Asia is thus an important component of the energy market integration (EMI) initiatives supported by the East Asian Summit (EAS) group. It is argued that an integrated East Asian electricity market would allow consumers to have access to competing suppliers within or beyond the borders and enable electricity providers in member economies to better deal with peak demand and supply security. The objectives of this study are twofold, namely, a) to present a review of the trends in regional electricity market integration and b) to draw implications for electricity market development in the EAS area. Specifically, this project will review the trends of integration in the world’s major electricity markets and analyze the experience and lessons in those markets. It will provide an examination of the electricity sectors in East Asia in terms of market development and connectivity. It will provide policy recommendations for the promotion of electricity market integration.