Uunderstanding the benefits of regional integration to trade: The application of a gravity model to the case of Central America

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darwin Marcelo Gordillo ◽  
Aiga Stokenberga ◽  
Jordan Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Gravity Model ◽  
Regional Integration

Central American integration through infrastructure development: A case study of Costa Rican hydropower

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denielle M. Perry ◽  
Kate A. Berry
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Central American ◽  
Infrastructure Development

At the turn of the 21st century, protectionist policies in Latin America were largely abandoned for an agenda that promoted free trade and regional integration. Central America especially experienced an increase in international, interstate, and intraregional economic integration through trade liberalization. In 2004, such integration was on the agenda of every Central American administration, the U.S. Congress, and Mexico. The Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) and the Central America Integrated Electricity System (SIEPAC), in particular, aimed to facilitate the success of free trade by increasing energy production and transmission on a unifi ed regional power grid (Mesoamerica, 2011). Meanwhile, for the United States, a free trade agreement (FTA) with Central America would bring it a step closer to realizing a hemispheric trade bloc while securing market access for its products. Isthmus states considered the potential for a Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States, their largest trading partner, as an opportunity to enter the global market on a united front. A decade and a half on, CAFTA, PPP, and SIEPAC are interwoven, complimentary initiatives that exemplify a shift towards increased free trade and development throughout the region. As such, to understand one, the other must be examined.

ODECA: Common Market Experiment in an Under-Developed Area

1963 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-275
Author(s):  
Frank Leuer Keller
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Trade Association ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
British Colonialism ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Title Iii

The integration process can be intensified and accelerated not only by specialization resulting from broadening of markets through liberalization of trade but also through use of such instruments as agreements for complementary production within economic sectors … Title III, Declaration of Punta del Este, Montevideo, 1961.The European pattern of economic integration has found expression in the Western Hemisphere in three politically divergent, widelyseparated regional groupings. One such group is the now-defunct West Indies Federation, a rearrangement of the remaining bits and pieces of British colonialism in the Caribbean region. Another is the Latin American Free Trade Association, straddling gaps from Mexico to Argentina, which appears to be a superficial bid for economic affinity among the more developed Latin American nations. But the most vigorous approach to regional economic integration is being pursued by the Organization for the Economic Development of Central America, which boldly proposes to weld at least five individually inefficient, insufferably nationalistic entities into one productive effort capable of initiating and sustaining economic take-off. Thus, in Central America, regional integration is being enforced even before national identity has fully emerged.

scholarly journals The Challenge for the Central American Integration System (SICA): The Withdrawal of Costa Rica During the Cuban Migrant Crisis 2015

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Damaris Stein
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Central America ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
National Level ◽  
Central American ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Integration System ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
Institutional Level ◽  
Migration Crisis

Central America has the longest experience with regional integration efforts apart from Europe and regional integration was on its rise with the establishment of the Central American Integration System (SICA). However, the organisation has been struggling to move the integration process further; experiencing a climax of fragmentation when Costa Rica left SICA during the Cuban migration crisis in 2015. This article focuses on the factors which contributed to the withdrawal of Costa Rica by looking at: (1) the institutional level of SICA; (2) Costa Rica’s policies that have hindered Central American integration; and (3) Costa Rica’s main reasons for its non-integrationist actions. This article argues that the cause can be found at both the institutional level and the national level. It further shows that SICA failed at deepening its integration due to its supranational ambitions installed in its institutional framework. Moreover, through qualitative research methods, it has been found that Costa Rica’s foreign policy is characterised by defying SICA’s organisational bodies. This article concludes by proposing four major reasons to explain Costa Rica’s non-integrationist actions which can be subsumed under (1) historical aspects, (2) no trade benefits from its membership, (3) immigration issues and lastly, (4) the legitimacy problem of SICA.

scholarly journals Intra-ECO Trade: A Potential Region for Pakistan’s Future Trade

2006 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jahangir Khan Achakzai
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Model ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Gravity Equation ◽  
Trade Flows ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Potential Region ◽  
Trade Preferences

A standard gravity model was applied to estimate the magnitude of potential trade flows between Pakistan and the nine ECO member countries. The major issue in this analysis is to explore that Intra- ECO trade has great potential for Pakistan and that it got lower share than its potential. The results from the gravity model confirm that ECO has a positive and significant impact on intra-regional trade. It suggests that intra-regional trade is lower than what would be predicted by the gravity equation, suggesting greater scope for regional integration among the ECO member countries. This is especially the case between countries that have a common geographical border. The privilege of geography and the existence of trade preferences among ECO members could be expanded to cover potential trade to neighboring countries.

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