Multi-dimensional boundary effects and regional economic integration: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt

While the challenges posed by multi-dimensional boundary effects to global economic integration are studied widely, regional economic integration within a sovereign country requires additional analysis. The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), a super-scale interprovincial area including three nested urban alliances, is a meaningful vision of regional economic integration in China. After building the producer services-based urban corporate network, this study investigates the influence of multi-dimensional boundary effects on regional economic integration by social network analysis and the exponential random graph model. The findings show that the fragmented reality of YREB’s economy is significantly different from the vision of the Chinese central government. More specifically, although the natural boundary restraints represented by distance have disappeared, multi-dimensional barriers to regional economic integration are still posed by administrative, policy, economic, and cultural boundaries. The estimation results pass the robustness test of the grouping sample of producer services. Therefore, we confirm that the multi-dimensional boundary effects, particularly the intangible ones, significantly impact regional economic integration even within a country with a top-down ‘strong’ governance.

Capacity Building Pemahaman Tentang Asean Economic Community (AEC) di MAN 1 Bandar Lampung dalam Menyongsong Indonesia Emas 2045

Era Globalisasi saat sekarang ini telah menjadi kenyataan yang menyatukan seluruh negara di dunia ini melalui aktifitas ekonomi, ilmu pengetahauan dan teknologi, politik, dan sosial budaya. Salah satu dampak globalisasi adalah munculnya Regional Economic Integration diberbagai belahan dunia ini salah satunya adalah Masyarakat Ekonomi ASEAN (MEA). Kelanjutan komitmen seluruh negara ASEAN setelah memasuki MEA 2015 adalah MEA 2025. Cetak biru 2025 bertujuan meningkatkan kualitas integrasi dan pertumbuhan ekonomi di kawasan. Peningkatan integrasi ini akan dilakukan melalui lima Pilar MEA 2025 yaitu (1) Ekonomi ASEAN yang terintegrasi dan kohesif; (2) ASEAN yang kompetitif dan dinamis; (3) peningkatan konektivitas dan kerja sama sektoral; (4) ASEAN yang tangguh, inklusif, dan berorientasi serta fokus ke masyarakat; serta (5) ASEAN Global. Hal yang sungguh memprihatinkan adalah persoalan sosialisasi dan edukasi yang kurang gencar sehingga para stakeholders atau pemangku kepentingan banyak yang tidak mengetahui secara jelas berbagai skim perdagangan bebas tersebut. Sehingga, dengan demikian tidak ada persiapan matang menghadapi kompetisi bebas dalam MEA itu. Baru menjelang saat dilaksanakan kita kerja keras menyiapkan diri, sementara sebagian pesaing kita sudah jauh didepan dengan berbagai strategi untuk memenangkan atau mendapatkan keuntungan terbesar dari keterbukaan atau integrasi ekonomi yang terjadi. Capacity Building tentang Pemahaman Asean Economic Community (AEC) atau Masyarakat Ekonomi Asean kepada siswa-siswi Madrasah Aliyah Negeri (MAN) 1 Bandar Lampung adalah judul pelaksanaan penyuluhan tentang Capacity Building Asean Economic Community (AEC) dalam menyongsong Indonesia Emas 2045 di Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 1 Bandar Lampung, yang diselenggarakan pada hari Sabtu, tanggal 29 Agustus 2020 dapat disimpulkan sebagai berikut; Tingkat pengetahuan dan pemahaman siswa-siswi di Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 1 Bandar Lampung tentang Asean Economic Community (AEC) dalam menyongsong Indonesia Emas 2045 sebelum dilakukan sosialisasi masih rendah. Hal ini tercermin dari pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang diajukan kepada narasumber dari peserta penyuluhan. Pengetahuan dan pemahaman peserta penyuluhan tentang konsep Asean Economic Community (AEC) sebagai Upaya menyongsong Indonesia Emas 2045, sesudah penyuluhan meningkat. Indikator kesimpulan ini didapat dari terjawabnya dengan baik pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang diajukan oleh narasumber kepada para peserta sekitar masalah konsep Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Trans-Tasman Border Stories: Actor-Network Theory and Policy Narrative in Action

<p>This thesis explores the relationship between narrative and action in the policy practice of border management in trans-Tasman regional economic integration. Using the European Union, the most developed form of regional integration, as a point of reference, it examines five stories of policy practice relating to the joint Prime Ministerial announcement on 2 March 2009 that committed Australia and New Zealand to ‘reduce remaining barriers at the borders to ensure that people and goods can move more easily between the two countries’ (Key & Rudd, 2009a). Actor-network theory (ANT) is the theoretical frame, drawing particularly on the works of Bruno Latour, John Law and Vicky Singleton, Michel Callon, and Barbara Czarniawksa, enhanced with aspects of the narrative theory of Hannah Arendt and Paul Ricoeur. This frame aligns with and builds on the policy narrative work of Rod Rhodes and Maarten Hajer and is applied to both regional integration and policy practice. New knowledge comes from identifying border management as a domain of policy practice, and extending Callon’s concept of marketization to border management, which is shown to be part of the global trading narrative that underpins regional integration. In trans-Tasman regional economic integration, narratives are revealed as a mix of economic, political and cultural matters of concern that are enacted with different types of separation and integration effects. The trans-Tasman relationship features as a macro-actor from which a mix of narrative effects emerges. The combination of economic, political and cultural narratives revealed in trans-Tasman regional economic integration can be seen in the EU, but with different emphases and effects arising from the interaction between them. This finding suggests a potential anatomy of border management policy in regional integration. Through tracing the actions of officials, this thesis reveals Trans-Tasman policy narratives to be performative, made up of the many little translations that occur in day-to-day policy practice, into which are woven the above broader connections. It also reveals that narrative is not only a way to tell the stories of what is being done, but that the narratives of matters of concern drive the action, and the action itself tells its own story. Narratives thus cannot be separated from action. These policy narratives are multiple and affect action in different ways, both positively and negatively, depending on the matters of concern, the relational power (who’s speaking on behalf of whom or what) and how they interact with one another. A point of departure for this thesis is the use of ANT to explore policy narrative, and the potential for applying the concept of performativity to other approaches of policy narrative. The narrative aspect of ANT is underemphasised yet it is a powerful analytical tool that has the potential to add to the effectiveness of the practice of policy. Incorporating aspects of narrative theory together with ANT is shown to enhance the insights.</p>

Trans-Tasman Border Stories: Actor-Network Theory and Policy Narrative in Action

<p>This thesis explores the relationship between narrative and action in the policy practice of border management in trans-Tasman regional economic integration. Using the European Union, the most developed form of regional integration, as a point of reference, it examines five stories of policy practice relating to the joint Prime Ministerial announcement on 2 March 2009 that committed Australia and New Zealand to ‘reduce remaining barriers at the borders to ensure that people and goods can move more easily between the two countries’ (Key & Rudd, 2009a). Actor-network theory (ANT) is the theoretical frame, drawing particularly on the works of Bruno Latour, John Law and Vicky Singleton, Michel Callon, and Barbara Czarniawksa, enhanced with aspects of the narrative theory of Hannah Arendt and Paul Ricoeur. This frame aligns with and builds on the policy narrative work of Rod Rhodes and Maarten Hajer and is applied to both regional integration and policy practice. New knowledge comes from identifying border management as a domain of policy practice, and extending Callon’s concept of marketization to border management, which is shown to be part of the global trading narrative that underpins regional integration. In trans-Tasman regional economic integration, narratives are revealed as a mix of economic, political and cultural matters of concern that are enacted with different types of separation and integration effects. The trans-Tasman relationship features as a macro-actor from which a mix of narrative effects emerges. The combination of economic, political and cultural narratives revealed in trans-Tasman regional economic integration can be seen in the EU, but with different emphases and effects arising from the interaction between them. This finding suggests a potential anatomy of border management policy in regional integration. Through tracing the actions of officials, this thesis reveals Trans-Tasman policy narratives to be performative, made up of the many little translations that occur in day-to-day policy practice, into which are woven the above broader connections. It also reveals that narrative is not only a way to tell the stories of what is being done, but that the narratives of matters of concern drive the action, and the action itself tells its own story. Narratives thus cannot be separated from action. These policy narratives are multiple and affect action in different ways, both positively and negatively, depending on the matters of concern, the relational power (who’s speaking on behalf of whom or what) and how they interact with one another. A point of departure for this thesis is the use of ANT to explore policy narrative, and the potential for applying the concept of performativity to other approaches of policy narrative. The narrative aspect of ANT is underemphasised yet it is a powerful analytical tool that has the potential to add to the effectiveness of the practice of policy. Incorporating aspects of narrative theory together with ANT is shown to enhance the insights.</p>

REVIEW OF INDONESIA'S EMPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS IN FACING ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

The AEC is the founder of the ASEAN Community and the formation of regional economic integration, which was implemented in 2015. The implementation of ASEAN is made up of the flow of services/goods on a single product and market basis, skilled labour, investment, and free capital flows between countries in the ASEAN region. As an opportunity at the time of employment and as a substitute for unemployment, the Indonesian state must be utilized free of skilled labour. The issues that have arisen are how the employment arrangements in Indonesia are? How to optimize Indonesia’s employment arrangements in the AEC era? The method of approaching this research is the normative juridical method. The research shows that there are arrangements in the field of manpower that help realize quality human resources and skilled labour. It also states that Law No. 13 of 2003 on Manpower and other policies that provide job training and certification of work competencies that optimize employment to be more qualified, skilled, and competitive and recognized by other ASEAN countries in facing the AEC.

Western Balkans will divide over regional market idea

Significance They have backed it with EUR9bn (USD10.5bn) in EU grants to develop cross-border infrastructure. In parallel, academics and think tanks, most recently the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, have been promoting the idea of regional economic integration. Impacts The Commission is promoting deeper regional economic integration as a preparation for the EU single market. The World Bank estimates that eliminating regional customs barriers would save 30 million man-hours a year and save exporters USD3.2bn. Tensions may rise among non-Serb majorities in Bosnia, Kosovo and Montenegro, which have large Serb minority populations.

Regional economic integration, natural resources and foreign direct investment in SADC

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the role of economic integration and natural resources and foreign direct investment (FDI) complementarity in explaining economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).Design/methodology/approachThe study employed the ordinary least square-random effects and the generalized two-stage least square instrumental variables (IV) regression to examine the relationship between the variables.FindingsThe authors find that regional economic integration and natural resource abundance are essential for promoting economic growth. The results further show a potential resource curse phenomenon, offset by the complementary effect of FDI in resource-rich countries. The findings are robust after conditioning for different measures of institutional quality.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest the need for deeper regional trade integration and international cooperation, prudent natural resource management and concerted effort toward economic diversification.Originality/valueMany studies have examined the determinants of economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). However, these studies did not incorporate or assess the potential of economic integration in the region. Moreover, studies that examined the growth effects of FDI did not assess the complementary role of the region's natural resource endowment which potentially drives FDI inflows. This study fills these gaps and provides a robust analysis of economic growth drivers in the region.

MAIN ASPECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION «THE PROGRAM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN-CHINESE COOPERATION IN THE TRADE, ECONOMIC AND INVESTMENT SPHERES IN THE FAR EAST OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FOR 2018-2024»

The article analyzes the implementation of the "Program for the development of Russian-Chinese cooperation in trade, economic and investment spheres in the Far East of the Russian Federation for 2018-2024." The paper examines the significance of the document in terms of regional economic integration. The experience of implementing such initiatives is analyzed, as well as problematic aspects of this act. The contribution of the program to the development of Russian-Chinese relations and the gaps in the work on its implementation are compared.