Intra-Regional Trade in Intermediate Goods and Macroeconomic Interdependence in East Asia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuan Khai Vu
2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prema-chandra Athukorala

International product fragmentation—the cross-border dispersion of component production/assembly within vertically integrated production processes—is an important feature of the deepening structural interdependence of the world economy. This paper examines the implications of this phenomenon for global and regional trade patterns, with special emphasis on countries in East Asia, using a new data set culled from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. It is found that, while “fragmentation trade” has generally grown faster than total world trade in manufacturing, the degree of dependence of East Asia on this new form of international specialization is proportionately larger than that of North America and Europe. The upshot is that international product fragmentation has made East Asian growth increasingly reliant on extra-regional trade, strengthening the case for a global, rather than a regional, approach to trade and investment policymaking.


2008 ◽  
Vol 53 (03) ◽  
pp. 449-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD E. BALDWIN

The paper argues that East Asian regionalism is fragile, since (i) each nation's industrial competitiveness depends on the smooth functioning of "Factory Asia" — in particular, on intra-regional trade; (ii) the unilateral tariff-cutting that created "Factory Asia" is not subject to WTO discipline (bindings); (iii) there is no "top-level management" to substitute for WTO discipline, i.e., to ensure that bilateral trade tensions — tensions that are inevitable in East Asia — do not spillover into region-wide problems due to lack of cooperation and communication. This paper argues that the window of opportunity for East Asian "vision" was missed; what East Asia needs now is "management", not vision. East Asia should launch a "New East Asian Regional Management Effort", with a reinforced ASEAN + 3 being the most likely candidate for the job. The first priority should be to bind the region's unilateral tariff cuts in the WTO.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-37
Author(s):  
Son Thanh Nguyen ◽  
Yanrui Wu

The emergence of production networks has changed the structure of international trade, which is characterized by a large share of intra-regional trade flows and a rising value of intermediate goods trade or network trade between countries within the same region. This paper investigates the change in impact of trade determinants with the formation of regional production networks. At the global level, the results show that intermediate goods exports are more sensitive to trade barriers than total goods exports. At the regional level, the comparison reveals that, despite the efforts directed toward export market diversification in East Asia, the region is still more dependent on other regions’ economic conditions than the European Union is.


1962 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 543-558
Author(s):  
Lim Tay Boh

The group of Asian countries which are discussed in this paper covers a region which is generally known as South, Southeast and East Asia, and may be conveniently referred to as the ECAFE region, since it falls within the area covered by the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. The developments in Southeast Asian countries are discussed in more detail than those in the rest of the region. Recent trends towards trade cooperation among the Southeast Asian group of countries are a striking contrast to the autarkic policies pursued, during the greater part of the 'fifties' by most of the newly independent countries of the region. A consequence of such policies is the fragmentation of trading areas, and this has tended to reduce the scope and volume of intra-regional trade and to restrict the size of markets for each country's exports.


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