Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Economic regionalism'

The wave of globalisation gave rise to a number of regional arrangements. The notion of economic regionalism gained importance rapidly in international trade as well as regional diplomacy. The body of theoretical and empirical literature suggests that economic regionalism is beneficial for trade flows and economic welfare, but some studies find it as a stumbling block for multilateral liberalisation efforts. The fundamental analytical questions are whether the groups demonstrate significant impetus to expand intra-bloc trade and whether a preferential liberalisation within theregional arrangement results in non-trivial mutual gains. To address these queries,this thesis investigates the trade pattern, potential and effects of a comparatively newregional group, Bay of Bengal for Multi-Sectoral Technical and EconomicCooperation (BIMSTEC).To examine the trade pattern of BIMSTEC countries, it adopts an augmented panel gravity model. The results reveal that imports of the member countries follow the Linder hypothesis, while exports can be explained by Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson theorem. Controlling for behind and beyond the border constraints, the results of astochastic frontier gravity model also support these findings. Such constraints are found to explain most of the total variation in imports and exports. The results also suggest that the highest trade potential, estimated by the frontier gravity model, turns out to be significant. Every members of the group can substantially expand intra-BIMSTEC trade if the constraints are either removed or kept at the minimum.This thesis finally examines the possible effects of an FTA within BIMSTEC by trade policy simulation tools, Software on Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade(SMART) and Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP). The results of SMARTsimulations indicate that significant gains can be obtained from an FTA in terms of trade and welfare effects. Conversely, revenue effects appear to be disproportionate. Smaller members like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka would experience proportionately higher revenue loss compared to bigger members such asIndia and Thailand. It suggests that smaller members deserve technical support and compensation to offset negative incidences. The GTAP simulations suggest that only Bangladesh would incur a net welfare loss and a negative growth of real GDP by joining the FTA. The group as a whole would end up with a trade deficit, although India would enjoy a trade surplus. Intra-bloc trade would increase substantially in most of the sectors except for Myanmar. The simulation result also implies that despite some country-and sector-specific negative effects, the impact on overall economic growth would be positive by initiating an FTA.

The increased spread in the location of value added coupled with the growing impetus for new forms of bilateral integration are re-shaping international economic activity. The world is becoming more regional and more fragmented but little empirical work has been dedicated to examining the nature of the links between these processes. This thesis aims to fill this gap in the literature. The primary aim of the first essay of this thesis is to extend current indicators of international production so that the bilateral degree of vertical specialisation can be captured. This has been one of the major hurdles in examining the links between vertical specialisation and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The comparative static analysis of this first essay reveals that there appears to be a high incidence of regional value chain activity and this motivates the aims of the second essay. It attempts to isolate the impact of an FTA on these flows through a theoretically derived gravity model of input trade. The results suggest that an FTA increases the use of intermediate inputs that are part of a bilateral value chain by 65%. Moreover, the results identify the presence of ‘magnification' which implies that this type of trade is also more responsive to changes in trade costs and income variables. The third essay then looks at how the changing nature of trade affects the formation of new FTAs. It suggests that the propagation of international production alters the political economy dynamics of countries towards favouring further liberalisation. It also identifies regulatory quality and a growing FTA ‘contagion' as determinants of new FTAs.

No
The primary objective of this book is to provide an analytical understanding of the nature, dynamics and complexity of the politics of economic regionalism through the prism of Sierra Leone in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The book also discusses the following issues: the evolution of economic regionalism in West Africa and the conceptual framework for analysis; the expansion of the economic regionalism; developments within the West Africa sub-region with that of the transformation of the global economy and international political system; political, economic and security developments within ECOWAS; and the civil war in Sierra Leone.

For the most part, formal economic integration between African states can be characterised as ‘theatre regionalism’: governments sign regional economic agreements with no intention to implement them. Yet amidst widespread theatre there have been a few instances of actual integration. This thesis sets out to explain this variance: under what conditions do African governments implement – and not just sign – formal agreements on regional economic integration? To answer this question the dominant Eurocentric literature on comparative regionalism is amended with insights from the third worldist literature on African states to develop a new approach for comparative analysis, the ‘Regionalism as Policy Space’ (RPS) framework. This framework models African regionalism as a two-stage game. At the first stage, governments’ interests in regionalism are determined by perceptions of the existence of structural cross-issue linkages connecting implementation of regional agreements with the widening of government policy space. Given such linkages, at the second stage, governments of a region engage in a coordination game to establish the distribution of benefits from integration. Variance in the implementation of regional agreements, then, is explained by variance in the existence of perceived cross-issue linkages (the Benefits Existence Condition) and the ability of participating governments to ease distributional tensions (the Benefits Distribution Condition). Four African customs union case studies - the East African customs union of the 1960s and 70s, the customs union of the East African Community in the 2000s, the customs union of the Economic Community of West African States and the Southern African Customs Union – lend strong empirical support to the RPS framework. The thesis ends with a discussion of the role of hegemons and proposes a series of policy measures aiming to reduce the likelihood of theatre regionalism in Africa.

Thesis advisor: David Deese
In recent years, the rise in the formation of regional organizations such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Mercado Común Del Sur (Mercosur) has drawn an increasing amount of attention from political scientists and economists. However, countries preparing for entry into regional organizations have the challenging task of promoting both economic and social integration. When preparing for accession into regional organizations, Mexico and Argentina implemented multiple changes in their economic and political practices. As a result of these changes, citizens who perceived themselves to be excluded from the benefits of regional integration formed social movements such as the Zapatista Army for National Liberation and El Movimiento de las Mujeres en Lucha to voice their opposition. This thesis explores the policy changes made as Mexico and Argentina prepared for accession into regional organizations, the social movements formed in opposition to these changes, and the responses formulated by Mexico's and Argentina's leaders in reaction to these movements. I conclude that countries preparing for entry into regional organizations must implement policies which address the political concerns of these groups, rather than simply their economic concerns. Failure to do so will lead to deep social divisions which will hinder the formation and development of regional organizations
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2008
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Political Science
Discipline: Political Science Honors Program
Discipline: College Honors Program

This thesis examines the EU's influence on regional cooperation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Mercosur in South America and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) by drawing on concepts from diffusion studies. It argues that conventional perspectives have tended to view different cases of regionalism as independent phenomena reflecting particular structural, institutional or ideational conditions, mainly internal to the respective region itself. I propose instead to conceive of regional organisations as asymmetrically interdependent, in that the EU as the most successful regional grouping in the international system influences other regional organisations in important respects; yet in ways that are ill-captured by the conventional depiction of external influence as a form of coercion. The central question addressed in this thesis is thus: Under what conditions and in what ways does the EU affect the trajectory of formal rules in regional cooperation elsewhere? I advance three main arguments. First, I suggest that given the EU's ideational and material power in global regionalism, it is likely to act as a focal point in debates about regional rule change around which actors' expectations converge when being confronted with an exogenous cooperation problem. This renders EU influence difficult to escape. Second, I argue that there are two dynamics by which EU influence affects outcomes in global regionalism - the EU as switchman and as driver. While the former leads policy-makers to choose EU-type rules instead of similarly viable alternatives given a particular cooperation problem, the latter affects the very incentives for regional rule change and thereby acts as an independent driver of regional cooperation. Third, I argue that, in terms of outcomes, EU influence has been highest in SADC, lower in Mercosur and lowest in ASEAN, mainly reflecting different degrees of material and ideational interdependence between the EU and other regions. Yet, policy-makers' widespread reluctance to share national sovereignty has sharply delineated the boundaries of EU influence in all three regions. I test these arguments across three central areas of regional cooperation: market building, institution building and community building.

This thesis contributes to the debates surrounding the resurgence of regionalism in contemporary Europe by examining the situation in Italy. The main theoretical perspectives of regionalism are examined as well as the historical development of the Italian national-state and the significant transformations it has undergone in recent years. The main focus of the study is the Northern League (Lega Nord) (LN) regionalist political party, which has risen to political prominence in Italian politics over the last ten years. The LN's claims for greater regional autonomy and its attempts to invent an identity for the North of Italy, or 'Padania' (as the LN calls it) have brought to the fore questions about the future structure of governance in Italy. The LN's claims for the secession of 'Padania' are a direct challenge to Italian national unity and identity. The LN claims to be the party of the North of Italy (or 'Padania') but its electoral support is not uniform across the whole of the territory. The thesis explores how and why the party's level of electoral support varies geographically, which involves examining the historical and electoral development of the LN; its organisational structures; how the party communicates its political rhetoric; and how the party’s discourses have evolved over time. The LN is analysed in three case-study areas within Northern and Central Italy in order to understand how different geographical contexts help or hinder the success of the party. The first case study area is the province of Varese, which is symbolically important for the LN and where the party is electorally strong; the second area is the autonomous province of Trentino where the LN is confronted with a distinct set of institutional and political structures; and the third is the province of Macerata in Central Italy where the LN is electorally weak.

Regional integration is not a new phenomenon but has become an increasingly important topic of political research with the continued expansion of the European Union as well as an increased number of regional organizations around the globe. This paper will seek to use both Europe and East Asia as illustrations in order to better comprehend the driving forces behind integration as well as why some regions are further integrated than others. The purpose of this research is to achieve a better understanding of what causes regional integration in hopes of developing a more inclusive theory. More specifically, it aims to see how integrated the region of East Asia is, in particular when compared to Europe. Through comparing the two regions and analyzing factors in both Europe and East Asia as determined by current integration theory, this research aims to achieve a better understanding of the driving forces behind regional integration as an international phenomenon. My research is an attempt to tie together the multiple existing theories of regional integration with the goal of creating a more cohesive and measurable theory. With an increased understanding of regional integration, we will be better able to both explain and predict integration in both Europe and East Asia, as well as other, less integrated regions around the world.

The main objective of this study was to examine the prospects and challenges facing ACFTA (Asean-China free trade area). It examined what ought to be done by the ASEAN member nations to match China's competitive ability having recently joined the World Trade Organization. The study also examined the compatibility of the ACFTA with the World Trade Organization rules and mode of dispute settlement under ASEAN and NAFTA as well as profound issues relating to ACFTA.

Africa’s international marginalization is preponderantly conceptualized through world systems approaches, particularly structural dependency. Consequently, the region’s socioeconomic quagmire, characterized by economic stagnation, abysmal poverty, inequality and foreign dependency, is often attributed to its colonial heritage. Particular reference is made to the small size of the African state and its structural specialization in primary production. Collective self reliance based on mutual interdependence (regional integration) thus suggests itself as a logical way to overcome the structural constraints imposed by the small size of the state, while at the same time representing a viable alternative to asymmetric trade with developed countries. It is within the context of this theoretical framework that this study critiques the predisposition of the regional body in Southern Africa, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), towards a trade biased approach to regional integration (market integration). This critique is based on theoretical and empirical findings showing that trade led strategies are primarily suited for developed countries with robust manufacturing industries and complimentary production structures. Countries in Southern Africa are however characterized by a near absence of manufacturing industries, are at different levels of development and show low levels of trade complementarities. This study therefore concludes that market integration is an inappropriate strategy for regional integration in Southern Africa and in the process suggests development integration – a political economy approach, as an alternative.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since independence in the early 1950's, Africa's overall economic performance compared very unfavourably with those of other regions of the developing world mainly because it attained political independence as a fragmented continent. From this time, the vision of African leaders has been that of regional integration and the creation of the African common market. The vision of a common market which unites Africa's mostly small and fragmented economies would lead to economies of scale, thereby making African countries more competitive. That vision however, has been clouded by the devastation of war, both civil and territorial and corruption which drains the state. Therefore, the importance of regional economic integration is pertinent and more so, the role of Regional Economic Communities as integrative institutions. The African Union, the main institution for political, economic and social integration established the African Economic Community whose main role is to facilitate the regional economic integration process in Africa. Africa's RECs have been designated by the Abuja Treaty as the building blocks for integration and the eventual creation of an African Economic Community. The Abuja Treaty and the Constitutive Act of the African Union provides for the coordination and harmonization of the policies of the Regional Economic Communities. One of the main challenges confronting Africa in its quest for full integration is the rationalisation of regional economic communities. The RECs with their treaties, protocols and agendas are logical institutions to jumpstart Africa's integration. The African Union recognises eight Regional Economic Communities, but the African continent has fourteen inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), all of which are working on regional integration issues. The RECs have had some successes but have not met their objectives of greater production. The RECs need to be revived and the first thing would be to rationalise their structure and their interactions with national governments. Rationalisation has benefits and costs and rationalisation efforts should focus on efficiency and effectiveness. Ultimately, rationalisation would allow Africa to attain the full benefits of integration, particularly growth for trade within and outside Africa. Regional Economic Communities are viewed as pillars of continental integration by the African Union. The strategy of economic emancipation must denote economic development for all African people including grass roots level and there is no doubt that significant challenges exist and must be addressed.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert die onafhanlikheid in die vroeë 1950's het die oorgrote ekonomiese groei van Afrika goed vergelyk met die ander onwikkelende streke in die wêreld grotendeels as gevolg van die gefragmenteerde onafhanklikheidswording in Afika as geheel. Vir die eerste keer was die visie van Afrika leiers dit eens dat Afrika streke as een moet integreer asook die daarstelling van een gemeenskaplike mark. Hierdie visie is egter vertroebel deur die verwoesting van oorloë, beide siviel en territoriaal, asook korrupsie, wat 'n staat dreineer. Daarom is die belangrikheid van streeks ekonomiese integrasie steeds belangrik, en nog meer so, die rol van Streeks Ekonomiese Gemeenskappe (REC's) as integrerende instelling. Die Afrika Unie, die hoof instelling vir politieke, ekonomiese en sosiale integrasie het die Afrika Ekonomiese Gemeenskap, wie se hoof taak dit is om die streeks ekonomiese integrasie te fasiliteer, gestig. Afrika se Streeks Ekonomiese Gemeenskappe is aangewys deur die Abuja Verdrag, om as die bouers van integrasie op te tree, met die uiteindelike daarstelling van 'n Afrika Ekonomiese Gemeenskap. Die Abuja Verdrag en die Konstutiewe Wet van die Afrika Unie maak voorsiening vir die koordinasie in ooreenstemming met die beleidsrigting van die Streeks Ekonomiese Gemeenskappe. Een van die hoof uitdagings wat Afrika in die gesig staar, met die soektog na volle integrasie, is die rasionalisasie van streeks ekonomiese gemeenskappe. Die Streeks Ekonomiese Gemeenskappe met hulle verdrae, protokol en agendas is die logiese instelling om die integrasie van Afrika 'n hupstoot te gee. Die Afrika Unie erken agt Streeks Ekonomiese Gemeenskappe maar die Afrika kontinent het veertien inter-regerings organisasies (IGO's) wat almal werk aan streeks integrasie kwessies. Die Streeks Ekonomiese Gemeenskappe het 'n sekere mate van sukses behaal, maar het nog nie hulle geteikende groter produksie bereik nie. Die Streeks Ekonomiese Gemeenskappe moet opnuut herleef word en die eerste stap sou wees om te rasionaliseer oor hulle struktuur en die interaksie met nasionale regerings. Rasionalisering het voordele en kostes en pogings behoort te fokus op doeltreffendheid en effektiwiteit. Die uiteinde van rasionalisering sal Afrika die volle voordele van integrasie, veral t.o.v handelsgroei binne en buite Afrika, ervaar. Streeks Ekonomiese Gemeenskappe word beskou, deur die Afrika Unie, as die pilare van kontinentale intergrasie. Die strategie van ekonomiese emansipasie moet 'n aanduiding wees vir ekonomiese ontwikkeling vir al die mense van Afrika, ook op grondvlak, en daar is geen twyfel dat beduidende uitdagings bestaan en dat dit moet aangespreek word.

The European Union (EU) has comparative advantage in regional integration. Moreover, regionalism is a growing phenomenon, as both the growing number of regional trade agreements and literature on new regionalism indicate. In this context, the EU has incorporated regional integration into European development policy as a strategy to help integrate the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states into the global economy, with the negotiation of region-to-region reciprocal free trade agreements, called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA). This thesis examines the extent to which the Pacific may constitute a region, for the purposes of the Cotonou Agreement, along cultural, political and economic dimensions of regional cooperation. This is in order to measure the potential for regional integration in the Pacific, as well as to test the applicability of the EU's regional template of development in this context. A theoretical framework is developed, based on the political economy of regional cooperation among developing states, in order to apply a series of propositions to the test the integrative potential of the Pacific region. The key finding is that regionalism in the Pacific is easily politicised. Anthropological evidence and economic analysis also confirm the informal nature of regional cooperation in the Pacific works against global imperatives for deeper regional integration, as Pacific islanders have generally not subscribed to a common identity, and the welfare benefits from regional free trade are shown to be minimal. Consequently, the Pacific accepts the EPA platform in order to maintain the development partnership with the EU, rather than because regional free trade is the most desired vehicle for development in the region. A trade agreement will therefore be concluded with the Pacific ACP states, but its form and timing remain the key issues for clarification.

This thesis set out to ascertain the position of recent Australian Governments on the latest instalments of Asian regionalism in the context of an assessment of whether there has been a redefinition of Asia and thus a redefinition of Australia???s engagement with Asia. It will concentrate on the broad themes of politico-strategic and economic engagement. Whilst there has been extensive research and documentation on the Asian economic crisis there has been less work on the issue of a new Asian regionalism and the implications for Australia???s complex and variable engagement with the region. This is the basis for the claim to originality of this thesis, a claim supported by its focus on the practical and policy implications of Australia???s engagement, or lack of it, with regional institutions. The process of regional integration has been extremely slow, thus supporting the conclusion that there is no evidence of a major redefinition of Asia. Efforts at Asian regionalism are meeting obstacles that pose immense challenges. Asian regionalism remains nascent and poorly defined. This reflects the diversity and enormous disparities in cultures, political systems and the levels of economic development and differences over economic philosophies within East Asia. What is discernible is that the regionalism is proceeding more rapidly on financial issues than on trade, and in the security area it is conspicuously absent. This research highlights the fact that the question of Asian engagement remains a sensitive issue in Australia and continues to grow more complex. Australia???s engagement with Asia since 1996 has been variable because of the Howard Government???s broader balance of priorities between global and regional issues, and because of the changing nature of the Asian region. The perception gleaned from sources is that, for the Australian Government, regionalism initiatives are characterised by much discussion but lack substance. Consequently, this appears to have led the Government to the position that exclusion from some manifestations of regionalism is not so important. Australia is excluded from some of the regional architectures being constructed. In its efforts to seek inclusion in ASEAN + 3 and ASEM, Australia is facing the same barriers that have stood in the way of an AFTA-CER agreement. Exclusion would be important if the performance of regional groupings was not so indifferent. Exclusion from ASEAN + 3 and ASEM, however, does not equate to Australia???s exclusion from the region.

Regional cooperation and integration in the international system has taken new dimensions especially following the end of the Cold War and the example of the successful story of the European Union integration process. This new dynamism in the intra-regional cooperation, which started to emerge in the 1980’s, has been described by some scholars as ‘new regionalism’, with a view to differentiate it from the ‘old’ type of regional cooperation which was prominent from the 1950’s till the late 1970’s. This phenomenon of new regionalism is caused by a multitude of often interrelated structural transformations of the global system, and it is a comprehensive, multifaceted and multidimensional process, implying a change of a region from relative heterogeneity to increase homogeneity, and in many dimensions, the most important being culture, security, economic policies and political regimes. This study of West African States integration process is therefore limited to these parameters of new regionalism. In view of this, the New Regionalism Approach is used as the theoretical framework for this thesis. Furthermore, to offer a deeper and a better understanding of the new regionalism phenomenon in West Africa, the qualitative research method, and the case study research design are the preferred choice for the methodology and the thesis is literature-based.

This thesis addresses the gap in the literature of the Gulf Cooperation Council and its distinct relations with the European Union by identifying the obstacles preventing the development of GCC–EU interregionalism, in two case studies: energy security and economic cooperation in the Mediterranean. By bringing an empirical application of interregionalism to the study of GCC–EU relations, the thesis draws an original comparison that is based on a Hettne and Söderbaum typology of regionness (2000) to determine the GCC’s and the EU’s types, levels of actorness and the subsequent type of interregionalism resulting from the interaction between their kinds. The theoretical construct of the thesis underlines interregionalism as a tool for consolidating the organisations’ identities and actorness and increasing their capacities at exerting influence within the changing dynamics in the regional and global theatres. In addition, this thesis sheds light on the obstacles that impede the development of interregional cooperation and the mechanism to overcome them. As such, the thesis considers the dynamics instigating the renewed interest in deepening GCC–EU interregional relations; outlines the tools available at the GCC and the EU, and highlights the implications of the Arab Spring and GCC–Asia ties on GCC–EU relations. By avoiding benchmarking the EU as a model, the thesis purports that cooperation in energy security is ongoing and is opening avenues for promising partnerships in renewables, energy sustainability and efficiency. On the other hand, the divergence in the organisations’ levels of actorness, economic strategies and the unwillingness to assess policies are major hindrances against a successful partnership in the Mediterranean. Asymmetries in actorness, bilateralism, the American influence and the growing GCC–Asia ties do impact the development of the relations; albeit, they do not impede the multilateral framework from producing unintended outcomes in other areas of the relations.

One of the more significant regional groupings to have emerged since the collapse of the Soviet Union is the wider Black Sea. Located at the jagged confluence of the Western, Orthodox and Muslim worlds, the region was quite frequently a violent meeting place, and thus instead of a bridge between civilizations, it has been a barrier. Even more compelling is how the presence of oil and gas has thrust the Black Sea into the world's view and contributed to the rush of external interest, and how this has helped develop a unique regional entity. Today, in an interconnected global economy, the region's position as a producer and conduit for fossil fuels makes it impossible to consider in isolation. More importantly, to succinctly define this dissertation's research question, it can be asked how does energy act as a transformational agent in the emergence of a Black Sea region?
Ph. D.

In recent years, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has become the main driving force of the economic dynamism of Southeast Asia. Japan, being the economic leader of the Southeast Asian countries during the 1980s and the early 1990s, is in a declining position in terms of leadership. Japan has also been experiencing economic recession since the mid-1990s and displaying only subtle signs of recovery recently. China, however, has taken the advantage of being the most demanding market of the region and already established the functional mechanisms of economic integration with ASEAN. This economic configuration of the region is the main inquiry of this study. Although the growing economic integration of China with ASEAN is fairly recent, it is generally discussed in the academic circles, that China has been taking the lead as an economic player in Southeast Asia. However, it is argued in this study that China is not yet ready to replace Japan as an economic leader of Southeast Asian in the long-term. Given the recent economic interaction between ASEAN and China, it is early to predict that China would replace Japan'
s leading economic position. In addition to that, China'
s blooming economy with its domestic crisis potential and China'
s long-erm geo-strategic interests in the South China Sea should also be taken into account while analysing economic potentials of Japan and China in the ASEAN market. The study examines the related literature with a comparative methodology including the analysis of the recent statistical data and survey of the news.

Regional integration has gained momentum since the 1980s and throughout the world. The new regionalism process prevailing since differs from the old one by its multidimensionality covering economic, political, social, and cultural issues within a regional setting. While the old regionalism focused on market protection using a range of tariff and non tariff barriers, the New Regionalism is reinforced by the globalisation effects and strives for efficiency in production, and market access. Using the New Regionalisms Approach, the aim of this thesis is to appreciate the actual levels of regional integration in Africa and explore plausible ways of deepening the integration process with the view that regional integration can promote socio-economic development, provided a pro-development approach is privileged in the conception and implementation of the regional integration process. Focusing on SADC as a representative regional economic community, a qualitative content analysis is used for data collection while policy analysis is carried out using the Institutional Analysis and Development framework. The results of this study reveal discrepancies between policy formulation and policy implementation when it comes to enhancing the pro-developmental aspects in the unfolding regional integration process. In spite that shortcomings in past experiences triggered dramatic structural reforms ranging from the reorganisation of the Organisation of African Unity into the African Union, the creation of NEPAD, to structural reforms within regional economic communities with the example of the 2001 restructuring of SADC, empirical evidence shows that little change has occurred at the operational level. Moreover, even policy formulation at the collective-action level still lacks concrete strategies and plans for harmonisation and implementation of regional initiatives. Some of the strategies for deepening the regional integration process would include prioritising regional commitments to external ones and improving policy formulation as well as establishing linkages between different regional policies and strategies.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
Bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study seeks to analyse regionalism in theory as well as in practice with regard to the Southern African region. Its purpose is thereby twofold: Firstly, this work claims to make a contribution to critical and reflectivist theorising of regionalism. The study of regionalism remains highly dominated by rationalist theories focusing predominantly on states as regionalising actors as well as on formal inter-state frameworks and market-led processes of regional integration. The hegemonic status of these approaches reinforces a specific form of regionalism which is compatible with neoliberal practices in the world economy. In order to reveal shortcomings and normative tenets of conventional theories and to account for the complexity and multidimensionality of regional projects and processes, a combination of theoretical insights from Robert W. Cox’s Critical Theory (CCT) as well as from the New Regionalism(s) Approach (NRA) are proposed as the theoretical framework for the study. The second objective is to bring civil society as a regionalising actor into the debate. Focusing on the highly exclusive and elite-driven regional project pursued by the region’s most comprehensive inter-state framework, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the study addresses the question, as to what extent civil society at the regional level can act as a transformative force in terms of people-centred socio-economic development and social equity. After introducing crucial meta-theoretical, conceptual and methodological considerations, the major theoretical contributions to the study of regionalism are reviewed critically and a critical/reflectivist approach is proposed as an alternative to mainstream rationalist theorising. In a broad historical overview, the social, political, economic and cultural contexts which characterize the contemporary region of Southern Africa are discussed. Subsequently, four regional civil society organisations, namely the SADC Council of Non-governmental Organisations (CNGO), the Southern African Trade Union’s Co-ordination Council (SATUCC), the Economic Justice Network (EJN) of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA) and the Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN), are scrutinized with the intention to assess their transformative potential within SADC. The research conducted for the study is based on an eclectic employment of a combination of mostly qualitative methods, among them field research interviews, participatory observations as well as the analysis of primary and secondary sources/data. Two important conclusions can be drawn from this work: Firstly, an explicitly anti-reductionist and critical theoretical approach is seen as essential to account for the myriad of multi-level structural as well as agency-related factors influencing regionalism and regionalisation in Southern Africa. Secondly, the impact of regional civil society actors investigated in this study with regard to a more socio-economically inclusive form of regionalism remains limited, because of institutional and structural constraints, limited representativeness and a lack of strategic coordination among civil society organisations. Nevertheless, recent developments within civil society at the regional level also provide some reasons for optimism that a broader societal movement might be evolving which, as a transformative alliance, could challenge SADC’s contemporary approach to regionalism.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie probeer om regionalisme teoreties en empiries te analiseer met as fokus die Suider-Afrikaanse streek. Derhalwe is die navorsingsdoelstelling tweevoudig, eerstens, is die navorsing daarop gemik om ’n bydrae te lewer tot die kritiese en reflektiewe teoretisering van regionalisme. Die bestudering van regionalisme word steeds oorweldigend oorheers deur rasionalistiese teorieë, en fokus primêr op state as die belangrikste streeks-akteurs, asook op formele inter-staat raamwerke en mark-verwante prosesse van streeksintegrasie. Die hegemoniese status van hierdie benaderinge bekragtig ’n spesifieke vorm van regionalisme wat saamhang met neoliberale praktyk in die wêreld-ekonomie. Ten einde die tekortkominge en normatiewe aannames van konvensionele teorieë uit te wys, asook om rekening te gee van die kompleksiteit en multi-dimensionaliteit van streeks-projekte en prosesse, word ’n kombinasie van teoretiese insigte gebruik uit Robert W. Cox se Kritiese Teorie (CCT), asook insigte uit die Nuwe Regionalisme-benadering (NRA) en aan die hand gedoen as teoretiese vertrekpunt vir die studie. Die tweede navorsingsdoelwit is om die burgerlike samelewing as streeks-akteur binne die analise te inkorporeer. Met as empiriese fokus, die hoogs eksklusiewe en elite-gedrewe streeks-projek wat bedryf word deur die mees omvattende inter-staat streeksinstelling, die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap (SAOG), evalueer en assesseer die studie die vraag tot watter mate die burgerlike samelewing op streeksvlak kan optree as ’n krag vir verandering binne die raamwerk van mensgesentreerde sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling en sosiale gelykberegtiging. Na die bekendstelling van ’n aantal meta-teoretiese, konseptuele en metodologiese oorweginge wat van kardinale belang is, word die hoofstroom teoretiese bydraes tot die bestudering van regionalisme krities beskou, en word ’n krities/reflektiewe benadering voorgestel as ’n alternatiewe benadering. Vervolgens word ’n breë historiese oorsig van die sosiale, politieke, ekonomiese en kulturele kontekste wat kenmerkende is van die teenswoordige Suider-Afrikaanse streek gelewer. Hierna word vier burgerlike samelewings-organisasies, naamlik, die SAOG Raad vir Nie-regeringsorganisasies (CNGO), die Suider-Afrikaanse Vakbonde Koördineringsraad (SATUCC), die Ekonomiese Regverdigheidsnetwerk (EJN) van die Gemeenskap van Christelike Rade in Suider-Afrika (FOCCISA) en die Suider-Afrikaanse Mense Solidariteitsnetwerk (SAPSN), onder die loep geneem ten einde hul veranderingspotensiaal binne SAOG te assesseer. Die navorsing wat hiervoor onderneem is, is gegrond binne ’n eklektiese vermenging van hoofsaaklik kwalitatiewe metodes, insluitende veldnavorsing-onderhoude, deelnemende waarneming, asook die analise van primêre en sekondêre bronne en data. Twee belangrike gevolgtrekking word, ten slotte, gemaak. Eerstens, ’n eksplisiete en anti-reduksionistiese, krities-teoretiese benadering word as essensieël beskou om rekenskap te kan gee vir die meervoudige en meervlakkige strukturele asook agent-verwante faktore wat regionalisme en regionalisasie in Suider-Afrika beïnvloed. Tweedens, die impak van die burgerlike samewelings-akteurs waarop hierdie studie gefokus het, om ’n meer sosio-ekonomiese inklusiewe vorm van regionalisme tot stand te bring, is beperk. Die redes hiervoor is van ’n institutionele en strukturele aard, beperkte verteenwoordiging en ’n gebrek aan strategiese koördinering tussen burgelike samelewings-organisasies in die streek. Nietemin, is daar redes vir optimisme wat voortspruit uit onlangse ontwikkelinge binne die streek se burgerlike samelewings organisasies. Hieruit is dit moontlik dat ’n breë sosiale beweging sou kon ontwikkel wat, in die vorm van ’n veranderings-gerigte alliansie, die SAOG se huidige benadering tot regionalisme kan uitdaag.

The study of regions in international relations has been a sometime thing, gaining scholarly attention in the 1950s and 1960s, dropping largely from view in the 1970s, and returning to focus quite dramatically in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is clear that the contemporary manifestations of regionalism (the completion of the internal market of the European Communities in 1992, Asia Pacific developments, and US-centred Western hemisphere moves) constitute a new and qualitatively different factor in both interstate relations and the international political economy. The growth in the development of regions in the 1980s also represents a new level of interstate collaboration in the international system. The question arises as to the causes of this 'new regionalism' of the 1980s, and the implications of these developments for international relations practice and theory. Investigating these issues is the main task of this thesis. ¶ This thesis involves three elements: a central contemporary element examining the re-emergence of regions in the 1980s; a second comparative element comparing the causal factors operating in three different regions; and lastly, a theoretical element examining the usefulness of current theory to the phenomenon of regionalism in the 1980s and 1990s. Chapters Two and Three discuss the relevant theoretical literature with a view to developing the propositions to be examined in the case studies. They examine three of the major streams of international relations theory - realism, liberal economics, and institutionalism - with a focus on what these contending theories have had to say about how regional groupings arise. Chapter Two looks at the relevant theoretical literature in the 1950s and 1960s while Chapter Three explores the more recent theoretical literature of the 1970s and 1980s. ¶ The rest of the body of the thesis tests propositions set out at the end of Chapter Three on the causes of the regionalist revival in the 1980s by way of three case studies, each one concerned with the actual development of regionalism in three different parts of the globe: Western Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific. ¶ In all three regions the move towards regionalism was clearly a reaction to negative developments in the international economic and political systems. It was in part a specific response to the undermining of the liberal international trading regime and the associated rise in protectionism, particularly in the US. It was also partly the result of an ideational shift in terms of economic doctrine away from keynesianism and import substitution industrialisation to economic liberalism and export-oriented economic growth. Yet it is also apparent from the case studies that the new regionalism was also to some extent the result of a kind of interactive chain reaction, a spiral of mutual anxiety, with regionalism in one area provoking an extension of regionalism in another. It is indeed difficult to establish which of these causal explanations is the principal one as it is clear from the case studies that they are in fact mutually reinforcing. ¶ The thesis concludes with an analysis of the insights provided by the case studies into the theoretical debates examined in Chapters Two and Three. Finally, there is an attempt to use these insights to construct a theory accounting for the rise of the new regionalism.

This thesis examines the regulation of regionalism by the WTO and the formation and operation of regional trade agreements by developing countries. In particular, this work focuses on regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The aim of the thesis is to assess the effectiveness of the relevant legal regimes and determine ways in which they can be made more effective, both in terms of their impact on state conduct and in terms of their impact on the economic welfare of the states concerned. The thesis argues that, with regard to the WTO legal regime, the exemption from the application of Article XXIV, GATT 1994 given to developing countries by the Enabling Clause has contributed to the lack of effectiveness of the WTO regime. For developing countries, on the other hand, the Enabling Clause has deprived them of the legal discipline required to establish effective free trade areas and customs unions. This latter argument is examined through a case study of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The thesis contends that for COMESA countries to engage in meaningful trade liberalisation, and to participate fully in the WTO, acceptance of greater legal discipline is critical. Such legal discipline can be obtained through compliance with Article XXIV.

The thesis deals with the trade liberalization among unequally developed partners and its development issues. At global level it refers to WTO development agenda, however, at regional level it focuses on north-south trade agreements, particularly on EU-ACP relations. The aim of the thesis is to analyze these relations and the way and scope of how they have contributed to economic growth and welfare of ACP states considering both static and dynamic effects. It also evaluates opportunities and threads of Economic Partnership Agreements.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
O Regionalismo é uma característica constante das relações internacionais. Na sua forma atual - o novo regionalismo - a União Européia é o seu maior e mais complexo exemplo. Iniciado há mais de cinco décadas, a integração européia atualmente envolve vinte e sete Estados-membros num sistema político que combina elementos supranacionais e intergovernamentais. A criação da União Econômica e Monetária- UEM (1992), representa a sua maior realização. O propósito dessa tese possuí dois objetivos: na luz das Relações Internacionais, apresentar o debate atual sobre regionalismo e integração européia, e em segundo, analisar a UEM, abordando sua dimensão histórica, política e teórica.
Regionalism is a long- standing feature in international relations. In its current form the new regionalism the European Union is its main and most complex example. Started over five decades ago, the European integration currently involves twenty seven member States in an unprecedented 'political system' that combines supranational and intergovernmental elements. The creation of the Economic and Monetary Union - EMU (1992) represents its biggest achievement. The purpose of this thesis is twofold: to present, from an international relations perspective, the on going debate on regionalism and European integration, and second, to analyse the EMU, addressing its historical, political and theoretical dimension.

This study examines how the interaction between globalisation and domestic politics shaped the evolution of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) between 1991 and 2000. Previous studies have argued that AFTA, a project of open regionalism, was adopted to attract foreign direct (FDI) investment to the region. Accurate to a degree, this dissertation argues that the concern with FDI is only part of the AFTA story, albeit an important part. The FDI explanation is unable to explain why market access and national treatment privileges were offered to national (domestic) investors from the ASEAN countries at least ten years ahead of foreign (non-ASEAN) investors in AFTA's investment liberalisation programme. The dissertation explains this departure from open regionalism, which has yet to be accounted for in the literature, by advancing the notion of 'developmental' regionalism. Underwritten by strategic trade theory rather than neoclassical economics, developmental regionalism emphasises the nurturing of domestic capital by using the expanded regional market and temporary protection or privileges for domestic capital as the means to build up domestic firms capable of meeting global market competition. Unlike existing models of the globalisation-regionalism relationship, which do not integrate domestic politics or do so in a limited way, the model of developmental regionalism considers domestic capital to be a key analytical variable, and takes seriously its location within domestic politics and society. Using documentary research and elite interviews, and guided by these theoretical insights, the study shows that AFTA encompasses the features of both open and developmental regionalism due to the political significance of both foreign and domestic capital in the ASEAN economies. While both forms of regionalism were driven by the imperative of growth, distributive concerns were weaved into the concern with growth in developmental regionalism, as governments sought to nurture those segments of domestic capital that were important in sustaining elite rule.

Os países da América Latina experimentaram, na década de 1950, um forte estímulo para o regionalismo econômico. O avanço dos processos de industrialização nas principais economias da região, por um lado, e as restrições políticas e econômicas presentes no novo ordenamento internacional do pós-guerra, por outro, tornaram aquela conjuntura histórica receptiva às propostas genuinamente elaboradas no seio da Comissão Econômica para América Latina e Caribe (CEPAL) de uma maior colaboração, cooperação e integração entre os países da região. O Brasil, nesse contexto, se deparou com duas diferentes iniciativas de integração regional que tiveram desfechos contrários. A primeira, assumida como uma tentativa frustrada de reedição do Pacto ABC de 1915, buscava entrelaçar as economias de Argentina, Brasil e Chile sob a rubrica de uma união aduaneira. A assinatura da Ata de Santiago entre Juan D. Perón e Carlos Ibañez Del Campo em fevereiro de 1953 não amainou o cenário para a adesão do Brasil; ao contrário, inflamou a oposição interna ao governo brasileiro, tornando a proposta objeto de denúncia contra Getúlio Vargas. A falta de apoio político interno levaria o governo Vargas a adotar uma atitude realista e instrumental frente à proposta abecista. Já a segunda ocasião referiu-se ao bem-sucedido processo de formação da Associação Latino-Americana de Livre Comércio (ALALC), concretizado após subscrição do Tratado de Montevidéu em fevereiro de 1960. A elaboração do projeto alalquiano por comissões técnicas interestatais contando com amplo e decisivo suporte cepalino contribuiu para despolitizar internamente o tema da integração econômica regional e garantir sua efetivação com o total apoio do governo de Juscelino Kubitschek. Trata-se aqui de analisar a recepção e repercussão no Brasil de tais propostas integracionistas e buscar compreender as motivações e interesses que conduziram o processo de definição da participação brasileira a resultados contrários, em uma conjuntura política e econômica relativamente semelhante. A hipótese que orienta as análises específicas é que a correlação interna de forças políticas, e os interesses econômicos e influências sociais nela implicados, fora determinante para definir a oportunidade e/ou as expectativas de concretização dos blocos econômicos regionais.
The countries of Latin America received, in the 1950s, a strong stimulus for economic regionalism. The advance of industrialization processes in the major economies of the region, on the one hand, and the political and economic constraints present in the new international order of the post-war, on the other, become this historical juncture receptive to proposals genuinely prepared within the Economic Commission Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) for greater collaboration, cooperation and integration among the region countries. The Brazil, in this context, was faced with two different regional integration initiatives that had opposing outcomes. The first, taken as a failed attempt to reissue the ABC Pact of 1915, sought to intertwine the economies of Argentina, Brazil and Chile under the rubric of a customs union. The signing of the Minutes of Santiago between Juan D. Perón and Carlos Ibañez Del Campo in February 1953 not abated the controversies for Brazil\'s adherence; instead inflamed the internal opposition to the Brazilian government, making the proposal a subject of complain against Vargas. The lack of domestic political support would take the Vargas government to adopt a realistic and instrumental attitude towards abecista proposal. The second occasion referred to the successful process of formation of the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA), achieved after signing of the Treaty of Montevideo in February 1960. The preparation of the project alalquiano by intergovernmental commissions techniques relying on broad and decisive support ECLAC contributed to internally depoliticize the issue of regional economic integration and ensure its implementation with the full support of the government of Juscelino Kubitschek. Seeks to analyze the reception and influence in Brazil of such integrationist proposals and understand the motivations and interests that led the process of defining Brazilian participation to contrary results in political and economic conditions relatively similar. The hypothesis that guides specific analyzes is that the internal correlation of political forces, and the economic interests and social influences involved in it, was determining for defining opportunities and / or expectations of achievement of regional economic blocs.

This thesis employs a dynamic form of the gravity model and data from 1988-2005 to estimate the effects of RTAs in SSA on intra-African trade. The thesis proposes a better approach to examining member-nonmember trade relations of RTAs. This thesis is unique because it uses System GMM estimator to overcome econometric issues associated with estimating dynamic models. The results suggest that COMESA and SADC has led to a significant increase in intra and extra-RTA trade. ECOWAS has increased intra-ECOWAS trade but decreased extra-ECOWAS trade. ECCAS has had a negative impact on both intra-ECCAS and extra-ECCAS trade flows. The proposed approach of examining member-nonmember relationships provides better estimates. A comparative analysis is made to shed light on how high or low the trade creation effect of RTAs in SSA are. The results of this thesis support the view that the impact of RTAs in SSA is higher than perceived.
x, 61 leaves ; 29 cm

This thesis examines the politics of local, governance in the Scottish Highlands, taking the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) network - made up of a central core and 10 Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) - as its institutional focus. It synthesises regulationist approaches and neo-Marxist state theory to explain LECs as part of a broader process of re-regulation under consecutive Conservative governments. LECs are unelected, business-led agencies operating at the local level. The political discourse through which LECs were established and promoted created expectations of local autonomy among business representatives that clashed with the centralising tendencies of Thatcherism. The thesis examines how the resultant tension between local initiative and central control has been worked out within the HIE network. It relies on data collected from seventy semi-structured interviews with representatives of HIE, LECs, local authorities, businesses and community groups. The initial chapters introduce the research and consider key methodological issues, set out the theoretical framework, and review the practices of the Highlands and Islands Development Board (HIDB, HIE's successor). The thesis then explores the key tension between local initiative and central control, explaining how it has been mediated and resolved through routine institutional practices. It also examines HIE-LECs relations with other key agencies, notably local authorities, through selected examples of multi-agency partnerships and assesses LECs' local accountability and representativeness. Finally, a concluding chapter sets out the main findings and considers their implications. While key managerial 'technologies' such as targeting, audit and financial controls allow central government to monitor and steer the HIE network, the thesis argues that the authoritative resources of the HIE core - grounded in the combination of local knowledge and technical expertise inherited from the HIDB - enables it to adapt key aspects of the operating regime to its own purposes. Local autonomy is limited by the relative centralisation of the Network, and LECs operate in a system of structured flexibility in which their scope to adapt policy to local conditions is constrained by state rules and procedures. In emphasising that local autonomy is limited by hierarchical mechanisms of control, the thesis argues that local governance in the Scottish Highlands continues to be underpinned by government. It also points to the limits of the regulation approach and neo-Marxist state theory as theoretical perspectives, suggesting that neo-Foucauldian writings on govemmentality are useful in providing stronger analytical purchase on the specific mechanisms and procedures through which state regulation is practised.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Criminology, 2005.
Also presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Criminology, 2005. Includes bibliographical references and index. Also available in a print form.

Historically there have been various discussions on how to achieve development from different scopes and spaces. The vision of development from a global space has undergone a significant evolution to the present day, in particular after World War II, in the context of international development cooperation. Within a regional space, economic cooperation mechanisms have shown to be dynamic and positive for development. This paper aims, firstly, to set forth a review of the evolution of the development vision from a global and regional perspective. Secondly, to analyze contributions in commerce from a regional development perspective through a comparative analysis of the Pacific Alliance and the Latin American Integration Association between 2005 and 2014, as economic cooperation mechanisms in Latin America and the Caribbean that seek development within the same region. / Históricamente han existido distintos debates para alcanzar el desarrollo, desde diferentes ámbitos y espacios. La visión del desarrollo desde el espacio global, ha tenido una importante evolución hasta nuestros días, principalmente después de la II Guerra Mundial, a través de la Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (CID). Desde el espacio regional, los mecanismos de cooperación económica han reflejado ser dinámicos y positivos para el desarrollo. Por ello, el presente trabajo pretende en primera instancia, realizar una revisión de la evolución sobre la visión de desarrollo desde un contexto global y regional. En una segunda fase, busca analizar las aportaciones comerciales, desde una visión del desarrollo regional, por medio de un análisis comparativo de la Alianza del Pacífico (AP) con respecto a la región y a la Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración (ALADI) para el periodo 2005-2014, como mecanismos de cooperación económica en América Latina y el Caribe (ALyC) que buscan un desarrollo dentro de la misma región.

This thesis examines characteristics of the economic governance, its levels and changes that were made in response to events in Southeast Asia in 1997/1998. it describes in detail the role of levels of the economic governance during the solution of the asian financial crisis, that exposed its vulnerabilities. In response to the crisis many changes took place. In the region of Southeast Asia these changes were designed to reform the International Monetary Fund, the origin of regional cooperation in the area and reforms in particular countries of the region. The thesis also contains the evaluation of the development of the economic governance in particilar states of Southeast Asia regarding world governance indicators WGI.

O objetivo desta dissertação é explicar os motivos que levaram os subseqüentes governos do Chile a não se tornarem membros plenos do Mercado Comum do Sul (Mercosul) durante a década de 1990. Faz-se a abordagem através de uma análise das mudanças ocorridas no Chile, a partir de meados da década de 1960 até o ano 1990, para explicar a atuação do país em âmbito regional. Por possuir características singulares, o Chile iniciou a década de 1990 redemocratizado, economicamente estável e com altas taxas de crescimento, o que despertou a atenção dos demais países da América Latina, que estavam reestruturando suas economias e seu papel no cenário internacional – principalmente Brasil e Argentina. A análise da história contemporânea do Chile e a forma como se conduziu sua política externa são as bases que sustentam esta dissertação. Ao reestruturar seu corpo diplomático e incrementar as relações entre o Estado e os setores privados chilenos, o país possuiu uma estratégia de inserção internacional que deu prioridade a outras regiões do mundo, relegando o Mercosul a um segundo plano em sua agenda de política internacional. Esta postura em sua política externa, levou o Chile a não se tornar membro pleno do Mercosul durante a década de 1990.
The present thesis seeks to explain the reasons why Chile did not became a South Cone Common Market member (Mercosur) during the 1990 decade. The changes occurred in the Chilean politics during the middle 1960's decade explain its Southern Cone foreign policy at the 1990's decade. Chile, with its particular characteristics, begun the nineties democratized with economic stability and high taxes of economic growth. This fact attracted the attention of other neighbor countries in Latin America that where restructuring their economies and parts at the international scenario, especially Brazil and Argentina. Chilean contemporary history analysis and the way its foreign policy was conducted are the basis which sustain this thesis. Restructuring its diplomatic team and improving the relations between Chilean public and private sectors, made the country start a new strategy of international insertion giving priority to other regions of the world, relying to Mercosur a secondary position. This international politic position led Chile not to be a Mercosur full member during the 1990 decade.

This thesis examines the determinants of institutional quality and the process of convergence in the ECOWAS in order to inform policy about the region’s deep integration scheme. The first part of the thesis examines the historical changes that took place in the development of common institutions in West Africa in the pre-independence era. The findings demonstrated that the region exhibited some common institutions, including common currencies, standardised trade rules and protection of trade routes which facilitated regional and international trade. A single administration system helped in the effective implementation of the common institutions. Therefore, historical changes after independence led to the loss of some facets of these common institutions in West Africa. The second part examined determinants of institutional quality and the process of convergence using econometric analysis. The findings demonstrated that the process of convergence could be accelerated if WAMZ and WAEMU work together as one monetary zone under ECOWAS. Moreover, the findings also demonstrated that the level of development, state capacity, FDI, regional trade, history and regional trade partners institutional quality contain useful information in explaining the quality of institutions today. Therefore, ECOWAS’s deep integration goal would require improving some of these factors in order to facilitate the process of developing common institutions and improve their quality. In the long term, a single administration system akin to the colonial era and the Empires of Western Sudan would be desirable. This will require political commitment to do so. ECOWAS members should have the confidence that deep integration is feasible given that it existed in the region in the past.

EU's 2007 enlargement by Bulgaria and Romania is evaluated by applying a simple macroeconomic integration model able to encompass as many of the theoretically predicted integration effects possible. The direct integration effects of Bulgaria and Romania spill-over to EU15, including Austria and the 10 new member states of the 2004 EU enlargement. The pattern of the integration effects is qualitatively similar to those of EU's 2004 enlargement by 10 new member states. Bulgaria and Romania gain much more from EU accession than the incumbents in the proportion of 20:1. In the medium-run up to 2020, Bulgaria and Romania can expect a sizable overall integration gain, amounting to additional ½ percentage point real GDP growth per annum. Within the incumbent EU member states Austria will gain somewhat more (+0.05%) than the average of EU15 (+0.02%) and the 10 new EU member states (+0.01%), which joined the EU in 2004. (author's abstract)
Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

This research paper pays particular attention to the EAC because of its unique composition of four LDCs46 and 1 DC47 and the fact that three of these countries are landlocked least developed countries (LLDCs).48 The EAC was notified as a RTA to the WTO under the Enabling Clause on 9 October 2000 and registered as a Custom Union49 under WT/COMTD/N/14.50 The notification of the EAC under the Enabling Clause is due to the nature of composition of members therein and to the fact that the Enabling Clause does not require regional trading arrangements to cover substantially all trade, or to achieve free trade in the bloc within ten years after notification. Additionally, it provides an avenue for giving special consideration to the LDCs through making concessions and contributions,51 allows automatic exemptions from MFN (non-discrimination) treatment in favour of DCs,52 and thus allows other WTO members to accord more favourable treatment to DCs in many cases without according the same treatment to other WTO members.53.

Тульчинський, Р. В. Інституціональні та управлінські детермінанти становлення нового регіоналізму в Україні : дис. ... д-ра екон. наук : 08.00.05 / Р. В. Тульчинський. - Київ, 2018. - 505 с.
Дисертація присвячена поглибленню теоретичних положень щодо модернізації економіки регіонів, обґрунтуванню методологічного базису становлення нового регіоналізму та практичним рекомендаціям щодо задіяння інституціональних та управлінських детермінант становлення нового регіоналізму в Україні. Визначено, що теорія нового регіоналізму, засновниками якої вважаються М. Кіттінг та Дж.Лонглін, базується на теоріях регіонального розвитку та регіоналізму, включає в себе різні наукові концепції щодо розгляду регіонів як самостійних учасників глобальних конкурентних відносин. На основі узагальнення теоретичних здобутків поглиблено понятійнокатегоріальний апарат теорії регіонального розвитку, зокрема запропоновано тлумачити дефініцію «новий регіоналізм» як концепція, що передбачає систему чинників, важелів, механізмів та інструментів інституціонального та управлінського впливу державних і місцевих органів влади, органів місцевого самоврядування та інститутів громадянського суспільства, спрямованих на модернізацію економіки, соціальну комфортність та екологічну безпеку проживання населення на конкретних територіях, наділених відповідними функціями, набуваючи нових ознак суб’єктності, просуваючи свої інтереси та пріоритети у поєднанні з відповідальністю за їх реалізацію, залишаючись відкритими для подальшої інтеграції. Деталізовано сутність поняття 3 «регіоналізація», що являє собою багатоаспектний та багатовимірний процес підвищення значимості територіальних формувань різного таксономічного рівня, що супроводжується інституційними змінами, каркасом яких є субсидіарність та децентралізація владних повноважень, з урахуванням глобалізаційних та інтеграційних процесів. Доповнено економічний зміст поняття «модернізація економіки регіонів», що являє собою цивілізаційно-суспільний, революційно-прогресивний та незворотний процес, який включає розроблення та запровадження нових підходів до розвитку суспільних систем та нових методів соціальноекономічного регулювання на регіональному рівні. Обґрунтовано, з урахуванням домінант когнітивної парадигми, використання діяльнісного підходу щодо сутності поняття «регіональна суспільна система», що являє собою відкрите субнаціональне формування, цілісність якого законодавчо забезпечує просторово-часове поєднання господарської діяльності, суспільних явищ, об’єктів, процесів та раціональне ставлення до довкілля та використання адміністративно-територіального підходу щодо сутності поняття «регіон» як територіального утворення та розглядається з погляду трьох складових: територія, економічна система та економічний простір. Окреслено етапи запровадження та об’єктивні передумови типологізації політики соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів у країнах Європейського Союзу. У процесі узагальнення досвіду європейських країн з’ясовано, що основою формування регіональних утворень можуть виступати національні, історико-культурні та економіко-територіальні особливості. Запропоновано методологічні основи щодо становлення нового регіоналізму в Україні, що базуються на комплексному підході, який включає системний, інституціональний, ситуаційний та синергетичний підходи, систему загальноекономічних та специфічних принципів, обґрунтованих на основі концептуально узгоджених знань про закономірності розвитку регіональних суспільних систем, яким притаманні такі властивості та закономірності розвитку, як цілісність, структурованість, поліструктурність, гетерохронність, 4 публічність, що дає можливість отримати більш цілісне комплексне уявлення про становлення нового регіоналізму та процеси, які його супроводжують. У дисертації розроблено теоретико-методологічні засади функціоналів становлення нового регіоналізму, які відповідно до системно-ієрархічного підходу містять функції (соціальну, відтворювальну, мобілізаційнорозподільчу) та їх підфункції, спрямовані на узгодження мети й завдань становлення нового регіоналізму та підвищення рівня життя населення регіонів через модернізацію економіки регіональних суспільних систем, мають об’єктивний характер, є відносно самостійними, а також підпорядковуються цілям соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів. Запропоновано теоретико-методологічні засади інституціонального забезпечення розвитку регіональних суспільних систем та становлення нового регіоналізму в Україні, які спрямовані на запровадження системи стратегічного планування та програмування регіонального та місцевого розвитку, удосконалення механізму фіскального контролю, розроблення заходів щодо розвитку взаємозв’язків між різними рівнями влади, активізацію мережі недержавних інституцій регіонального та місцевого розвитку, сприяння розвитку державно-приватного партнерства, підвищення професійної кваліфікації працівників органів місцевої влади, що сприятиме децентралізації та зміцненню бази фінансових ресурсів місцевих бюджетів. Проведено дослідження рівня соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів за використанням економіко-статистичних методів. За результатами оцінювання макроекономічних показників розвитку регіональних економічних систем за 2010-2016 рр. встановлено, що асиметрія між регіонами поглиблюється. Так, асиметрія у 2016 р. за валовим регіональним продуктом (ВРП) на одну особу між м. Києвом та Луганською областю становила 13,45 раза. Найбільша частка у створенні ВРП, а саме 33,6 % належали м. Києву та Дніпропетровській області. Асиметрія за значенням інтегрального регіонального індексу людського розвитку у 2016 р. між Івано-Франківською та Житомирською областю становила 1,23 раза. За даними моніторингу соціально-економічного розвитку 5 регіонів у 2015-2017 рр. тільки м. Київ та Харківська область беззмінно посідали відповідно перше та друге місце, а також тільки дві області – Кіровоградська та Рівненська – мали значну позитивну динаміку за рейтингом. Розроблено методичний підхід до оцінювання впливу державної регіональної політики на модернізаційний стан просторових господарських систем в умовах становлення нового регіоналізму, який побудовано на розв’язку системи диференціальних рівнянь моделі соціально-економічного розвитку за принципом максимуму Л. С. Понтрягіна та дає змогу визначити оптимальні значення за допомогою знаходження атрактора, комплексного інтегрального індексу модуля функціоналів становлення нового регіоналізму, інтегральних індексів функціоналів нового регіоналізму (відтворювальної, мобілізаційно-розподільчої та соціальної функцій) та індикаторів модулів їх підфункцій для впровадження заходів на зменшення асиметричності соціальноекономічного розвитку регіонів. Удосконалено методичний підхід до оцінювання соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів, що базується на обґрунтуванні відповідно до принципів системності, узгодженості та оптимальності системи часткових показників соціально-економічного розвитку, їх стандартизації, розрахунку інтегральних індикаторів складових соціально-економічного розвитку з визначенням вагових коефіцієнтів впливу за використанням методу множинної регресії та розрахунку інтегрального індексу соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів. Запропоновано систему забезпечення економічної безпеки регіональних господарських систем в умовах становлення нового регіоналізму в Україні, яка: побудована на принципах системності, закономірності, послідовності, безперервності та взаємодії, містить моніторинг соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів та PEST-аналіз, спрямована на розроблення стратегічних заходів забезпечення економічної безпеки на рівні регіонів та держави, створення компенсаційного механізму, урахування детермінованих чинників впливу на економічну безпеку на мезо- та макрорівні, що сприятиме посиленню 6 ролі та значення регіонального рівня управління економічним розвитком на конкретній території. Удосконалено підходи щодо нарощення інтелектуального капіталу регіонів, що засновані на розвитку інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій, знаннях, організації безперервної, доступної та випереджаючої освіти для населення з урахуванням регіональних особливостей та потреб, стимулюванні наукової діяльності та підвищенні інноваційної культури в регіонах, що сприятиме становленню нового регіоналізму на основі інноваційного розвитку регіонів. Запропоновано формування інструментарію активізації залучення інвестицій за використанням державно-приватного партнерства, який спрямований на імплементацію нормативно-законодавчої бази до міжнародного законодавства, чітке розмежування повноважень між органами державної, регіональної влади, удосконалення методології та механізму надання підтримки з державного або регіонального бюджетів для реалізації інвестиційних проектів за використанням державно-приватного партнерства, що зменшить соціальну напруженість у регіонах завдяки більш якісному задоволенню потреб населення та навантаженню на бюджети різних рівнів. Набули подальшого розвитку концептуальні підходи щодо стратегічних заходів інноваційного розвитку регіонів, що базуються на урахуванні: потреб регіонів, соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів, тенденцій міжнародного інноваційного співробітництва регіонів, потенційних можливостей інноваційного розвитку регіонів, супроводжуються постійними заходами підтримки та стимулювання інноваційних процесів на регіональному рівні. У роботі вперше розроблено консолідовану концепцію задіяння інституціональних та управлінських детермінант становлення нового регіоналізму в Україні, спрямовану на зменшення асиметричності соціальноекономічного розвитку регіонів України, що є системою методологічних, соціально-економічних заходів, принципів, форм, методів, засобів, які відображають інтереси населення з дотриманням конституційних прав та 7 свобод різних груп осіб, регіонів та держави загалом, та передбачає консолідацію зусиль усіх суб’єктів становлення нового регіоналізму та спрямована на зменшення асиметричності соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів України. Реалізація концепції сприятиме подоланню інституційних перешкод соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів у межах продовження процесу регіоналізації в Україні, підвищенню ефективності використання ендогенного потенціалу регіонів за умов задіяння інтелектуально-інноваційної сфери, підвищенню безпеки країни в контексті впровадження системи забезпечення економічної безпеки регіональних господарських систем в умовах становлення нового регіоналізму в Україні, зростанню конкурентоспроможності регіонів як суб’єктів міжнародних ринків в умовах поглиблення процесів глобалізації. Набув подальшого розвитку кваліметричний підхід до прогнозування соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів в умовах становлення нового регіоналізму, побудований на розрахованих оптимальних значеннях комплексного інтегрального індексу модуля функціоналів становлення нового регіоналізму за принципом максимуму Л. С. Понтрягіна, з урахуванням вагових коефіцієнтів впливу модулів інтегральних індексів функціоналів, встановлених за системно-ієрархічним підходом, що дає можливість спрогнозувати часткові показники соціально-економічного розвитку регіонів.
It is determined that the theory of new regionalism, whose founders are considered by M. Kitting and J. Longlin, is based on theories of regional development and regionalism, includes various scientific concepts regarding the consideration of regions as independent participants in global competitive relations. On the basis of the theoretical achievements generalization, the conceptual-categorical apparatus of regional development theory is deepened. In particular, it is proposed to interpret the "new regionalism" definition as a concept that envisages a system of factors, levers, mechanisms and instruments of institutional and managerial influence of state and local authorities, local self-government bodies and civil society institutions aimed at modernizing the economy, social comfort and environmental safety of residence population in specific territories, endowed with appropriate functions, gaining new signs of subjectivity, promoting their interests and priorities combined with responsibility for its implementation, while remaining open to further integration. The essence of the "regionalization" concept is described, which is a multidimensional and multidimensional process of increasing the significance in territorial formations of different taxonomic levels, accompanied by institutional changes, the basis of which is subsidiarity and decentralization of authority, taking into account globalization and integration processes. The economic content of the concept of "modernization of the region's economy" is added, which is a civilization-social, revolutionary-progressive and irreversible process that includes the development and introduction of new approaches to the development of social systems and new methods of socio-economic regulation at the regional level. It is substantiated, taking into account the dominant cognitive paradigm, the use of the activity approach to the essence of the concept of "regional social system", which is an open subnational formation, the integrity of which is legally ensured by the spatial-temporal combination of economic activity, social phenomena, objects, processes and rational attitude to the environment and the use of the administrative-territorial approach to the essence of the concept of "region" as a territorial entity and is considered from the point of view of three components: terit the economic system and economic space. The stages of introduction and objective preconditions of typology of the policy of socio-economic development of regions in the countries of the European Union are outlined. Summarizing the experience of European countries, it became clear that the basis for the formation of regional entities can be national, historical and cultural and economic-territorial features. The methodological foundations for the new regionalism formation in Ukraine based on an integrated approach that includes systemic, institutional, situational and synergetic approaches, a system of general economic and specific principles, based on conceptually-agreed knowledge on the regularities of the development of regional social systems, which has the following properties and patterns of development, such as: integrity, structuring, polystyrism, heterochronism, publicity, which makes it possible to obtain a more integrated comprehension of the new regionalism formation and the processes that accompany it. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the functionalities of the new regionalism formation are developed in the dissertation, which, in accordance with the system hierarchical approach, contain functions (social, reproductive, mobilization-distributive) and their subfunctions, aimed at reconciling the goals and objectives of the new regionalism formation and improving the living standards of the regions by the way of modernization regional social economy systems. They are objective in nature. They are relatively independent and also obey the goals of socio-economic development of the regions. The theoretical and methodological principles of institutional support for the development of regional social systems and the new regionalism formation in Ukraine aimed at introducing a system of strategic planning and programming of regional and local development, improvement of the fiscal control mechanism, development of measures the interconnections development between different levels of government, activation networks of non-state institutions of regional and local development, promotion of public-private partnership development, increase of professional skills of local authorities employees. That will promote decentralization and strengthening of the base financial resources of local budgets. The study of the regions’ socio-economic development level of using economic and statistical methods has been carried out. According to the results of the macroeconomic indicators evaluation of the regional economic systems development for 2010-2016, it has been established that the asymmetry between the regions is deepened. Thus, asymmetry in 2016 by GRP per person between Kyiv and Luhansk regions accounted for 13.45 times. The largest share in the creation of GRP and is 33.6% owned by the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk region. Asymmetry meaningfully integrated regional human development index in 2016 between Ivano-Frankivsk and Zhytomyr regions was 1.23 times. According to the data of the socio-economic development monitoring of regions in 2015-2017, only Kyiv and Kharkiv region consistently ranked first and second respectively, as well as only two regions – Kirovohrad and Rivne had some significant positive dynamics by rating. The methodical approach to the evaluation of the state regional policy’s influence on the modernization state of spatial economic systems in the conditions of the new regionalism formation, which is based on the solution of the differential equations system of the socio-economic development model based on the L.S. Pontryagin's maximum principle, is developed and allows us to determine the optimal values by means of finding an attractor, a complex integral index of the functional module for the new regionalism formation, integral indexes of new (reproduction, mobilization, distribution and social functions) and indicators modules of their subfunctions for the implementation of measures to reduce the asymmetry of regions’ socio-economic development. The methodical approach to the evaluation of socio-economic development, based on justification under the principles of consistency, coherence and optimal system of partial indicators of socio-economic development of standardization, calculation of integrated indicators constituent socio-economic development of defined weight factors influence the use of the multiple regression method and integral index calculation of socio-economic development. The system of providing economic security of regional economic systems in the conditions of the new regionalism formation in Ukraine, which is based on the principles of systemicity, regularity, planning, continuity and interaction, includes monitoring of regions’ socio-economic development and PEST-analysis, aimed at developing strategic measures for the provision of economic security at the level of regions and state, creation of compensation mechanism, taking into account the deterministic factors of the impact on economic security at the meso- and macro- level, which will enhance the role and importance of the regional level of management of economic development in a particular territory. It is improved the approaches to increasing the intellectual capital of regions based on the development of information and communication technologies, knowledge, organization of continuous, accessible and forward-looking education for the population, taking into account regional features and needs, stimulating scientific activity and enhancing innovative culture in the regions, which will contribute to the new regionalism formation on the basis of innovative development of regions. The formation of tools for increasing the attraction of investments through the use of public-private partnership is proposed. It is aimed at implementation of the legislative and regulatory framework in the international legislation, a clear division of powers between the state and regional authorities, the improvement of the methodology and the mechanism for providing support from the state or regional budgets for the implementation of investment projects through the use of public-private partnership, which will reduce the social tensions in the regions at the expense of better meeting the needs of the population and the burden on budgets of different levels. The conceptual approaches to strategic development measures of the region's innovation development, based on consideration: needs of regions, socio-economic development of regions, trends of international innovation cooperation of regions, potential opportunities for innovation development of regions, are accompanied by constant measures of support and stimulation of innovative processes at the regional level. The consolidated concept of involvement of institutional and managerial determinants of the new regionalism formation in Ukraine was first developed in order to reduce the asymmetry of socio-economic development of the regions of Ukraine, which is a system of methodological, socio-economic measures, principles, forms, methods, means that reflect the interests of the population. observing the constitutional rights and freedoms of different groups of people, regions and the state as a whole and provides for the consolidation of efforts of all subjects of the new regionalism formation and aimed at reducing the asymmetry of socio-economic development of the regions of Ukraine. Implementation of the concept will help to overcome institutional obstacles to the regions’ socio-economic development within the framework of the continuation of the regionalization process in Ukraine, enhancement of the efficiency using the endogenous potential of regions in the context of the use the intellectual and innovation sphere, and enhancement of the country's security in the context of implementing the system of economic security of regional economic systems in the conditions of the new regionalism formation in Ukraine, growth of regions’ competitiveness as subjects of international markets s in the deepening of globalization. Qualimetric approach to forecasting the regions’ socio-economic development in the conditions of the new regionalism formation was further developed. It is based on the calculated optimal values of the integrated index functionality module of the new regionalism formation on the basis of L.S. Pontryagin’s maximum, taking into account the weight coefficients of the modules of integral functional indexes influence, established by the system hierarchical approach, which makes it possible to predict partial indicators of regions’ socio-economic development.

In this thesis, the effects that state sector relocations have on regional development in Sweden are investigated. In January 2017, a government report was released, suggesting the relocation of 10 000 state sector jobs from the capital of Stockholm to other parts of Sweden in order to enhance the preconditions for regional development in the destination localities. This thesis aims to investigate which effects that state sector relocations and state sector jobs have on regional development. Three determinants were used to find these effects: the share of state sector employees, the state sector employee growth rate and a dummy variable which denoted four separate occasions of larger relocations. Three of those relocations were executed as a compensation for military base closures. With a fixed effect panel data analysis, it was possible to investigate the effects of these three determinants and a number of control variables on two regional development variables: average income growth and net migration rate. The data used consists of panel data for the years 2006-2015 on a municipality level, with 264 included municipalities, in Sweden and derived from Statistics Sweden. The results showed that the state sector employee growth rate-variable had a positive effect on average income growth. However, the state sector relocation dummy had a negative effect on average income growth. These contradictory results, might be due to the military base closures which occurred a couple of years before the relocations, blurring the positive effects from the relocations. The state sector job-variables had no significant effect on net migration rate, and no obvious long-term effects were found as the share of state sector employees did not show any significant effects on average income growth.