Regional economic integration has become a key force in international commercial policy in the 2000s. Europe has traditionally embraced regionalism; the United States became actively involved in preferential trading arrangements only in the 1980s. While Asia has been late in accepting formal regional economic integration accords, all Asian countries are now in the process of creating various free-trade areas and other forms of economic integration programs, and some are already in place. This volume analyzes the regionalism trend from an Asian perspective. It considers the lessons from, and the economic implications of, various economic integration programs in the OECD (mostly the EU but also NAFTA), as well as the proposals for closer economic integration in the region itself. Chapters deal with both real and financial integration issues.

The Pacific Trade and Development (PAFTAD) conference series has been at the forefront of analysing challenges facing the economies of East Asia and the Pacific since its first meeting in Tokyo in January 1968. The 38th PAFTAD conference met at a key time to consider international economic integration. Earlier in the year, the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union and the United States elected Donald Trump as their next president on the back of an inward-looking ‘America First’ promise. Brexit and President Trump represent a growing, and worrying, trend towards protectionism in the North Atlantic countries that have led the process of globalisation since the end of the Second World War. The chapters in the volume describe the state of play in Asian economic integration but, more importantly, look forward to the region’s future, and the role it might play in defending the global system that has underwritten its historic rise. Asia has the potential to stand as a bulwark against the dual threats of North Atlantic protectionism and slowing trade growth, but collective leadership will be needed regionally and difficult domestic reforms will be required in each country.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) aims to achieve greater integration between the ASEAN region and its six free trade agreement (FTA) partners (India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Korea). The RCEP is the only agreement to include three economies which are among the seven biggest economies of the world—China, Japan and India. The book opens with an introduction to the current status of economic integration and factors that would affect it and looks at key issues like non-tariff barriers, evolving investment regulations in China (in the context of FTAs), connectivity initiatives to integrate the region, rules of origin in the context of value chain integration in selected sectors as well as region-specific aspects of South Asia and South East Asia which would shape the regional economic architecture going forward. With an attempt to cover key imperatives, the book concludes by noting primary impediments to easier trade and investment flows in the region, highlighting possible policy recommendations to improve economic integration.

Costs and Benefits of Economic Integration in Asia brings together authoritative essays that identify and examine various initiatives to promote economic integration in Asia.

This scholarly and interdisciplinary volume sheds much needed light on the realtionship between national policies, regional integration patterns and the wider global setting. It covers regional patterns in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Individual chapters focus on topics ranging from industrial or financial policies to social welfare regimes, as well as broader assessments and comparisons of regional arrangements in a global context. The chapters point to the diversity of regional patterns in the world economy and the continuing importance of national regulatory structures, yet they also point to the common pressures of globalisation felt by all, especially in the domain of capital markets. With broad coverage and clear but sophisticated analysis this new book will be vital reading to all those seeking to clarify their understanding of the contemporary regional/global paradox.

Noel Gaston and Ahmed M. Khalid s volume offers fascinating insights on the development, causes, and consequences of globalization in the Asia-Pacific. The outstanding collection of chapters combines theory with rigorous econometrics, making the book a must-read for every student of globalization. At a time where the global crisis gave new arguments to the critics of globalization, the questions raised in this book, and the answers given, are essential reading for academics and politicians alike. Axel Dreher, University of Goettingen, Germany Given the importance of globalization in today s world, this salutary and timely book explores how globalization is specifically shaping the Asia-Pacific. It investigates future prospects and challenges, identifies the key winners and losers, and concludes in many cases that the portents for globalization are not particularly promising. Prominent economists and policy scholars examine a wide range of topics pertinent to globalization and economic integration in the Asia-Pacific, encompassing macroeconomic coordination and financial market integration; regionalism and preferential trade agreements; and immigration and labor markets, including gender issues and the impact of outsourcing. Through these analyses, the expert contributors illustrate the importance of market participants and regulators clearly understanding the risks associated with the present stage of globalization. They show that national policy makers need to reconfigure the regulatory framework following international lessons from previous financial crises experienced in the last two decades, and that financial literacy is essential for market participants, especially in emerging economies. Many of the issues discussed will prove useful in promoting the development of a new international financial architecture, comprising measures that will help reap the full benefits of globalization. This stimulating and challenging book will strongly appeal to academics, advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, and policy makers in the fields of Asian studies, international economics, and international business.

This volume offers to compare and explain variances of regionalism in Asia by disclosing the distinctive features of regional arrangements and how they evolved during the 1990s and 2000s against the background of a changing global environment. Moreover, it takes up a genuinely ‘inter-Asian’ perspective. By analysing and comparing diverse manifestations of regional integration agreements across Asia and its different sub-regions, it sets out to track their common characteristics and sub-regional facets with respect to their establishment, design and consequences. In addition, political processes accompanying their negotiation and implementation are scrutinized. The analysis encompasses nine case studies written by renowned scholars who together as a group combine an extraordinary mixture of different disciplinary backgrounds as well as expertise on shapes and processes of regional integration in different parts of Asia. The case studies seize on some of the most important features and controversial issues characterizing the second regionalism. Such are the emergence and impact of overlapping FTAs, regional financial and sub-regional economic integration and cooperation, power and the politics of regional integration as well as the nexus between conflict resolution, state failure and regional integration.