Regionalism in a Multilateral World
Date
01.01.1998
01.01.1998
Authors
Wilfred J. Ethier
JEL Code
F15,F13,F23
F15,F13,F23
Keywords:
Direct investment,Regionalism,Multilateralism,Policy reform
Direct investment,Regionalism,Multilateralism,Policy reform
Publisher
Economy and Society
Economy and Society
Editor
Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano
Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano
Recent regional initiatives have been addressed from a Vinerian perspective of trade creation and trade diversion. This is true both of policy-oriented economists, who tend to be critical of the initiatives, and of theorists, who have added dynamic and game-theoretic elements to the Vinerian structure. This paper describes the stylized facts of much recent regional integration, and develops an alternative model. The analysis suggests that regional integration, far from threatening multilateral liberalism, may in fact be a direct consequence of the success of past multilateralism and an added guarantee for its survival.