scholarly journals A Value Chain Approach to Support Southeast Asian Economic Regionalism

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Craig Jones
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Single Market ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Integration ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Value Capture

This article includes an exploration of the economic data sets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Statistics, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, as well as primary regional economic initiatives and agreements to assess the strategic indicators of economic regionalism using thematic analysis. The aim of this research is to determine how Southeast Asian regionalism can circumvent vulnerabilities to another economic crisis in North America and the European Union. To correct such financial vulnerabilities, ASEAN has significantly remolded the region into a single market consisting of a 10-nation integrated production base. The ASEAN Economic Community’s main pillars are the establishment of a regional economic foundation based on comprehensive investment initiatives; the liberalization of capital markets, tariffs, and professional labor; infrastructure connectivity; regional policy integration; and free trade agreements to create a regional value chain as part of a single market and production base. The more attainable this comprehensive value-capture-and-integration process becomes, the more attractive it will appear to the global economic investment community and for business opportunities to establish a robust regional foundation. Although the process appears straightforward, capturing value is not a single phenomenon or method, but rather a multifaceted phenomenon, as explored in this study. The regional integration model seeks profitability within effective cross-border production networks and regional liberalization.

The Internal Market of the European Union: From Indivisibility to Differentiated Integration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Egan
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
Single Market ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Capital Services

The internal market is the workhorse of European integration, promoting the free movement of goods, capital, services, and factors of production to ease cross-border barriers. Research has focused on the evolution and expansion of market integration, drawing on a variety of empirical and theoretical approaches to understand the interests, institutions, and ideas that have shaped an “ever closer economic union.” Yet as the economy has changed from manufacturing to services, the internal market has shifted in scope to encompass a more heterogeneous set of issues where the core rules and legal commitments have generated increased differentiation in market practices and regulatory alignment. Scholarship on the single market has diminished, in part, due to the fragmentation of policy initiatives, often not attributed to the single market. As the European economy has undergone profound structural changes, the legislative agenda has expanded to new policy areas that reflect the need for modernization and expansion of the traditional single market agenda. Often touted as a model for regional integration, the single market is still a differentiated market, much more developed for goods than it is for services and labor. The result is a regulatory patchwork of selective liberalization where the scope and depth of integration vary across the four freedoms. Ironically, the integrity of the single market in the wake of Brexit has led the “four freedoms” of goods, services, capital, and people to be viewed as “indivisible” which does not reflect the reality of decades of market integration. More attention needs to be given to the incorporation of history and temporality into understanding the single market. On the one hand, the single market is viewed as a means of transferring regulatory norms to third-country markets which has led to a debate about the extent of European “market power” across different issues areas. Rooted in the size and institutional configurations of its internal market, European efforts to export rules to third-country markets also depends on domestic receptiveness and state capacity to accept such jurisdictional boundaries over markets. As the internal market has varying degrees of “depth” across treaty freedoms, its “spillover” effects may differ across goods and service markets. On the other hand, there has been a surge in single market differentiation within the European polity in terms of modes of governance. This reflects growing flexibility in terms of fundamental treaty requirements, the varied compliance and implementation across sectors and firms, and the differential effects of withdrawal from the single market across member states given the substantial consequences of Brexit. Across time and space, the detailed patterns governing the four freedoms and flanking policies of the internal market in Europe are not uniform with differentiation in institutional (legal and administrative) arrangements that have significant trade-offs in terms of social legitimacy and economic competitiveness.

scholarly journals Embedding trade liberalisation in social policy: a research agenda on social regionalism and the Global South

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-281
Author(s):  
Diamond Ashiagbor
Keyword(s):  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Regional Economic Integration ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Sub Saharan

Underpinning this article is the proposition that regional integration with a social dimension has the potential to engender a more equitable pattern of globalisation. The empirical focus of the article is on the extent to which the insights of ‘embedded liberalism’ associated with regional economic integration between the industrialised nations of the European Union (EU) can be applied to regional economic integration within sub-Saharan Africa. The article contends that EU market liberalisation has been embedded within labour market institutions and institutions of social citizenship at the domestic level. These have served as social stabilisers to counter the far-reaching effects of the internal market and global trade. Less industrialised nations have never enjoyed adjustment mechanisms of this sort, raising the question for this article, and for further research: in which legal and institutional structures can these nascent forms of market integration at regional and sub-regional level be embedded?

scholarly journals Particularities of the European Union enlargement process

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreea Bucur
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
European Union Enlargement ◽  
And Function ◽  
Positive Results ◽  
The Eu

The European integration model has proven to be so far a successful one, with a high consideration from the other countries of the world and their attempts to replicate its components and to learn from its experience of regional integration is perhaps the most sincere form of appreciation. Contemporary global economy knows various other models of economic integration, but none of the existing forms of regional integration was not up to the achievements of the EU which is distinguished primarily by the stage reached and function and<br />its ability to create unity in the context of diversity. Irreversible process, and currently ongoing, and designed to produce positive results in perspective, the enlargement is one of the most significant factors of European construction success, always accompanying its history, marking the development, institutional structure, mode of cooperation and its policies. For these reasons, the present paper aims to approach the European integration model by the factors that influenced the enlargement and also by the course of events that are reflected in so-called “waves” of EU enlargement.

Brazil’s Role in Latin American Regionalism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier A. Vadell ◽  
Clarisa Giaccaglia
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
South American ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The South ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The One ◽  
Latin American And Caribbean

The roots of Latin American regionalism blend together with the birth of the region’s states, and despite its vicissitudes, the integrationist ideal represents the most ambitious form of regional feeling. It is an ancient process that has undergone continuous ups and downs as a result of domestic and foreign restrictions. In the early 21st century, the deterioration of the “open regionalism” strategy, along with the rise to power of diverse left governments, led to the development of a “physical-structural,” “post-liberal,” “post-neoliberal,” or “post-hegemonic” integration model. In this context, Brazil—governed by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—constituted itself as a crucial protagonist and main articulator of the South American integrationist project. From this perspective, in addition to the existing MERCOSUR, UNASUR was created, and it encompassed the whole subcontinent, thus reaffirming the formulation of regional policies regarding the concept of “South America.” At present, however, a new stage of these regionalisms has started. Today, the Latin American and Caribbean dynamics seem to bifurcate, on the one hand, into a reissue of open regionalism—through the Pacific Alliance—and, on the other hand, into a fragmentation process of South America as a geopolitical bloc and regional actor in the global system. Regarding this last point, it is unavoidable to link the regional integration crisis to the critical political and economic situation undergone by Brazil, considered as the leader of the South American process. In short, the withdrawal of the Brazilian leadership in South America, along with the shifts and disorientations that took place in UNASUR and MERCOSUR, have damaged the credibility of the region’s initiatives, as well as the possibility to identify a concerted voice in South America as a distinguishable whole. That regional reality poses an interesting challenge that implies, to a great extent, making a heuristic effort to avoid being enclosed by the concepts and assumptions of the processes of regionalism and integration that were born to explain the origin, evolution, and development of the European Union. From this perspective, the authors claim that the new phase experienced by Latin American regionalisms cannot be understood as a lack of institutionality—as it is held by those perspectives that support the explanations that they “mirror” the European process—but rather it answers chiefly to a self-redefinition process influenced by significant alterations that occurred both in global and national conjunctures and that therefore, have had an impact on the regional logic. Given the regional historical tradition marked by vicissitudes, the authors believe that they can hardly talk about a “Sudamexit” (SouthAmexit in English) process, namely, an effective abandonment of regionalisms. Recognizing the distinctive features of Latin American and Caribbean countries, rather, leads us to think of dynamics that generate a complex and disorganized netting in which the political-institutional course of development of Brazil will have relevant repercussions in the future Latin American and Caribbean process as a whole.

scholarly journals Brexit and the Differentiated European (Dis)Integration

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 621-646
Author(s):  
Angélica Szucko
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Eu Project ◽  
The Eu

Abstract On 25 March 2017, the European Union celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, which established ‘an ever-closer union’ as a fundamental principle for European regional integration. Only four days later, the United Kingdom delivered an official letter triggering its withdrawal process from the Community. How could we comprehend Brexit integrative and disintegrative dynamics to the EU? The UK’s decision to leave the EU alongside recent crises in the Community and the spread of Eurosceptic movements fostered studies about disintegration dynamics. This article presents the current debate about differentiated (dis)integration based on up-to-date related literature. Next, it proposes a framework to assess the recent shifts in the UK-EU relationship and its contradictory effects on the EU project. The main argument of the paper is that the UK’s relationship with the European Union moved from an internal differentiated integration to a proposal of internal differentiated disintegration and, thereafter, to a process of external differentiated disintegration. Moreover, although Brexit means disintegration by one Member State, its effects on the EU project are mixed, initially promoting an integrative boom among the EU27 members, while at the same time neglecting disintegrating forces that could undermine the traditional European integration model.

Market-Driven Regionalization in Asia

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 1850044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilip K. Das
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Market Expansion ◽  
The Us ◽  
Asian Economies ◽  
Market Driven

Progressively liberalizing trade and FDI regime underpinned market-led profit-motivated regionalization in the high-performing Asian economies. The market expansion and regional integration that took place in Asia was both vertical and horizontal. First the NIAEs and then the other emerging-market economies of Asia developed tiers of complex trade and manufacturing hierarchies. This occurred in association with the large flows of intra-regional investment into Southeast Asia and China. Over the preceding quarter century, Japan, Taiwan and Korea provided massive amounts of FDI to Southeast Asian economies and China, and in the process increased their commitments in these markets. During the 1970s, a triangular production relationship had developed between Japan, the NIAEs and the US, bringing the former two sets of economies closer together. After the Plaza Accord in 1985, the currency value configuration changed. Changes in currency value configuration and economic complementaries buttressed regionalization. Gradually production locus shifted from the firms to networks of regional production. Asian firms skillfully sliced the value chain, consequently production networks soon became a significant force driving the process of economic integration further in the region. Private sector firms and TNCs played a proactive role in this endeavor.

OIL IN THE GULF OF GUINEA STATES AND SOUTH AFRICA IN THE MATRIX OF OVERLAPPING MEMBERSHIP OF AFRICAN REGIONAL COMMUNITIES: AN IMPEDIMENT TO REGIONAL INTEGRATION?

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-30
Author(s):  
Zingisile Ntozintle Jobodwana
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Gulf Of Guinea ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Sea Transport ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
National Body

The Gulf of Guinea states (GOGs) discussed in this article comprise a diverse group of more than 20 African states bordering on the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea. They are former colonies of Belgium, France, Great Britain and Germany. These states are of strategic importance to the United States, the European Union, India and China because of their tremendous natural resources that include biodiversity, oil, gas and other strategic minerals. But to what extent are they also of strategic importance not only to South Africa but to SADC member states? After all, the GOGs boast of their sea routes being safer and more convenient for sea transport. Post-colonial independence finds these states still adopting a mixture of foreign legal systems side by side with indigenous laws and customs. The region is still underdeveloped, with poor physical infrastructure, weak government structures, an inefficient legal system, and internecine strife and other inter-state disputes exerting a debilitating influence. The NEPAD Plan of Action of 2001 looks to the regional economic communities (RECs) to become the leaders in regional economic co-operation and integration. Although the GOGs are characterised at present by overlapping membership of various communities, they have enjoyed some successes based on the newly found petroleum commodity which, wisely managed, can help to increase intra-African trade and produce a viable extensive African market buttressed by South Africa’s economic advances into the rest of Africa. In some of the regions in Africa RECs such as ECOWAS and SADC have been able to transform their economic and monetary co-operation efforts into a powerful driving force for economic policy co-ordination and integration, but a strong, credible, effective and efficient legal framework with sustainable supporting institutions is now needed. South Africa is well poised to assist with deepening the political and economic integration in the GOGs by intensifying foreign direct investment (FDI), capacity-building and training projects, and the transfer of skills and technology. But the RECs’ overlapping membership needs to be rationalised, the negative influences of the superpowers need to be resisted, and support is required to maintain peace and stability and ensure the security of the maritime regimes. A strong, independent supra-national body that is also able to supervise and monitor revenues from oil for the benefit of the region as a whole should be established.

The Indonesian Way

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Rüland
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Norm Diffusion ◽  
International Environment ◽  
The Press ◽  
Asian Regionalism ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Eu

This book challenges the proposition that regional organizations across the world exhibit increasing similarities with the European Union as a result of norm diffusion. It examines how and to what extent Indonesian foreign policy stakeholders—the government, civil society, legislators, the academe, the press and business representatives—sought to influence reforms of Southeast Asian regionalism by adopting ideas and norms of regional integration championed by the EU. Triggering the Indonesian debate on regionalism was the decision of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Indonesia is a founding member, to draft an ASEAN Charter, a quasi-constitutional document adjusting the grouping’s repository of cooperation norms to a changing international environment. Applying and developing further Amitav Acharya’s theory of “constitutive localization,” the analysis of the ASEAN Charter debate shows that—to varying degrees—Indonesian foreign policy stakeholders transfer the terminology of European integration to ASEAN’s organizational structure, but that they adopt only partially, if at all, the normative substance of the EU model for regional integration. Instead, they skillfully reconcile alien norms with local norms, with the effect of retaining what could be called an Indonesian way of foreign policy-making.

scholarly journals Impact of the Enlargement of the European Union on the Foreign Trade and Development of the New Members

ECONOMICS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Milenko Krajišnik ◽  
Aleksandra Žutić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
New Members ◽  
Trade Area

SummaryOne of the most important characteristics of the process of globalization is the creation of different regional economic integrations. The most developed regional economic integration in the world is the European Union. Since it was found, when six founder countries created the free trade area for coal and steel, European Union passed all the phases of development of the economic integration, through the customs union and common market to the economic and monetary union. Through the six waves of enlargement European Union has become the integration of 28 countries with over 500 million habitants. Every enlargement of this regional integration had an impact on the economic position and the development of both the old and the new members. The biggest increase in the number of members brought the 5th big enlargement of the European Union, when the number of the member countries increased in total for 12 countries, first for 10, and then for 2 more.The effects of this enlargement on former soviet countries are specially interesting not only because of the number of the new members, but also because of the fact that these countries during the joining have also pass the process of the transition to the market economy.The aim of this work is to examine the effects of the enlargement on the foreign trade of the new members, and the effects of the changes in foreign trade on the economic development of these countries. The analysis of the effects of joining the European Union could be interesting for the countries which strive to become members of this economic regional integration.

scholarly journals MACROECONOMIC STABILITY OF NEW MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: FIFTH ENLARGEMENT

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (19) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Sanel Razić ◽  
Merim Kasumović
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
European Union ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Regional Economic Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
National Economies ◽  
Macroeconomic Stability

The historical context of globalization as an organized process, which influenced the majority of national economies linked via international institutional mediators, led to the so called regional economic integration phenomenon. It is interpreted as the efforts of underdeveloped and developing countries to speed up their economic growth and more significantly impact the entire macroeconomic stability by means of some form of regional integration. Nowadays, regional economic integration is one of the pillars for proper functioning of modern economic relations. Experience of developed countries serves as an example to point out that integration processes inevitably contribute to more favorable environment for developing business sector in the countries striving for integration. In the context of global integrations, more frequent forms of regional changes and the establishment of trade blocks come as the consequence as well as the overall need for obtaining trade balance among national economies. Within this context, the European Union is seen as one of the most important regional integration and an imperative in economic, political and cultural segment, as it is the territory with significant economic growth and the region with high living standards.

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