Abstract
The paper starts with a discussion of potential sources of regionalism in trade; and what, on this basis, might have been expected to be the performance of regionalism. In its main part, this is an empirical analysis of the actual change in the degree of regionalism over the last half-century, distinguishing four major groups of countries as “regions”. Judging by two complementary indices, it appears that the share of regional trading in world trade has increased substantially, so that much of the remarkable expansion of global trade has taken place via the channel of trade within specific regions.
Note
This paper is an elaboration of a presentation in a session on “Regionalism” held at the ASSA meeting in Philadelphia, January 2014.
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to David Wajnryt for computational support and to my colleague Nadav Halevi for helpful discussions.
References
Kleiman, E. 1976. “Trade and the Decline of Colonialism.” Economic Journal86:459–80.10.2307/2230793Search in Google Scholar
Michaely, M. 1968. “Patterns of Trade”, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 108–13. The Macmillan Co, and the Free Press.Search in Google Scholar
Thorbecke, E. 1960. The Tendency towards Regionalization in International Trade. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.10.1007/978-94-015-1053-0Search in Google Scholar
©2014 by De Gruyter
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- Global Market Evaluation: A Longitudinal Efficiency Assessment Approach
- Examining the “Balance of Payments Stages” Hypothesis
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Network Analysis of World Trade using the BACI-CEPII Dataset
- Global Market Evaluation: A Longitudinal Efficiency Assessment Approach
- Examining the “Balance of Payments Stages” Hypothesis
- The Influence of Measures of Economic Freedom on FDI: A Comparison of Western Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa
- What’s News
- Regionalism in Trade: An Overview of the Last Half-Century
- Offshore Financial Centers in the Global Capital Network
- Foreign Capital Inflow and Real Exchange Rate Appreciation in Developing Economies: Theory and Empirical Evidence
- Trade Liberalization and Productivity Performance: Evidence from the Australian Passenger Motor Vehicle Industry