IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jjieco/v63y2022ics0889158321000630.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Natural trading partners versus empires in East and Southeast Asia regional integration (1840-1938)

Author

Listed:
  • Ayuso-Díaz, Alejandro

Abstract

The present article tries to contribute to the literature dealing with the history of regional integration in East and Southeast Asia, reconciling the arguments defending that those territories are natural trading partners, those supporting that Western Empires enabled integration, and the ones claiming that it was the Japanese Empire which expanded regional trade. With this purpose, we reconstruct the region's bilateral imports before the establishment of Free Trade Areas and pioneer the econometric analysis of the main drivers of the commercial integration of East and Southeast Asia as a whole during the high colonial era (1840-1938). Our results display that countries' specific economic and cultural characteristics made them natural trading partners. However, intra-Asian trade acceleration during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries was possible by the British imperialism of free trade and Japanese planned industrialization.

Suggested Citation

  • Ayuso-Díaz, Alejandro, 2022. "Natural trading partners versus empires in East and Southeast Asia regional integration (1840-1938)," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jjieco:v:63:y:2022:i:c:s0889158321000630
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jjie.2021.101184
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889158321000630
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jjie.2021.101184?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Melitz, Jacques & Toubal, Farid, 2014. "Native language, spoken language, translation and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 351-363.
    2. Yang, Shanping & Martinez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada, 2014. "A panel data analysis of trade creation and trade diversion effects: The case of ASEAN–China Free Trade Area," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 138-151.
    3. Boubakri, Salem & Guillaumin, Cyriac, 2015. "Regional integration of the East Asian stock markets: An empirical assessment," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 136-160.
    4. Peter A. Petri, 2006. "Is East Asia becoming more interdependent?," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Jun.
    5. Ma, Debin, 2004. "Why Japan, Not China, Was the First to Develop in East Asia: Lessons from Sericulture, 1850-1937," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(2), pages 369-394, January.
    6. Krugman, Paul R, 1993. "On the Relationship between Trade Theory and Location Theory," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(2), pages 110-122, June.
    7. Julian Donaubauer & Alexander Glas & Birgit Meyer & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2018. "Disentangling the impact of infrastructure on trade using a new index of infrastructure," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 154(4), pages 745-784, November.
    8. Kazuo Hori, 2016. "The Formation of Capitalism in East Asia," Monograph Series of the Socio-Economic History Society, Japan, in: Minoru Sawai (ed.), Economic Activities Under the Japanese Colonial Empire, chapter 0, pages 11-49, Springer.
    9. Jutta Bolt & Jan Luiten Zanden, 2014. "The Maddison Project: collaborative research on historical national accounts," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(3), pages 627-651, August.
    10. Alejandro Ayuso‐Díaz & Antonio Tena‐Junguito, 2020. "Trade in the shadow of power: Japanese industrial exports in the interwar years," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 815-843, August.
    11. Redding, Stephen & Venables, Anthony J., 2004. "Economic geography and international inequality," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 53-82, January.
    12. Eichengreen, Barry & Irwin, Douglas, 1993. "Trade Blocs, Currency Blocs and the Disintegration of World Trade in the 1930s," CEPR Discussion Papers 837, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. W. G. Huff, 2003. "Currency Boards and Chinese Banking Development in pre-World War II Southeast Asia: Malaya and the Philippines," Working Papers 2003_2, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    14. Kentaro Nakajima & Tetsuji Okazaki, 2018. "The expanding Empire and spatial distribution of economic activity: the case of Japan's colonization of Korea during the prewar period," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 71(2), pages 593-616, May.
    15. Tirthankar Roy, 2002. "Economic History and Modern India: Redefining the Link," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 109-130, Summer.
    16. Daniel M. Bernhofen & John C. Brown, 2004. "A Direct Test of the Theory of Comparative Advantage: The Case of Japan," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(1), pages 48-67, February.
    17. Alexander Claver & G. Roger Knight, 2018. "A European role in intra-Asian commercial development: The Maclaine Watson network and the Java sugar trade c.1840–1942," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(2), pages 202-230, February.
    18. Fally, Thibault, 2015. "Structural gravity and fixed effects," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 76-85.
    19. Jenny N. Lye & Joseph G. Hirschberg, 2002. "Tests of Inference for Dummy Variables in Regressions with Logarithmic Transformed Dependent Variables," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 852, The University of Melbourne.
    20. William Martin & Cong S. Pham, 2020. "Estimating the gravity model when zero trade flows are frequent and economically determined," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(26), pages 2766-2779, May.
    21. Wolfgang Keller & Ben Li & Carol H. Shiue, 2011. "China’s Foreign Trade: Perspectives From the Past 150 Years," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(6), pages 853-892, June.
    22. Stanley L. Engerman & Kenneth L. Sokoloff, 1994. "Factor Endowments: Institutions, and Differential Paths of Growth Among New World Economies: A View from Economic Historians of the United States," NBER Historical Working Papers 0066, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    24. P. J. Cain & A. G. Hopkins, 1987. "Gentlemanly capitalism and British expansion overseas II: new imperialism, 1850-1945," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 40(1), pages 1-26, February.
    25. Gaël Raballand, 2003. "Determinants of the Negative Impact of Being Landlocked on Trade: An Empirical Investigation Through the Central Asian Case," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 45(4), pages 520-536, December.
    26. David S. Jacks & Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke & Alan M. Taylor, 2020. "The Gravitational Constant?," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _184, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    27. Gregg Huff & Giovanni Caggiano, 2007. "Globalization and labor market integration in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Asia," Research in Economic History, in: Research in Economic History, pages 285-347, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    28. Carrere, Celine, 2006. "Revisiting the effects of regional trade agreements on trade flows with proper specification of the gravity model," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 223-247, February.
    29. Anne Booth, 2007. "Night watchman, extractive, or developmental states? Some evidence from late colonial south‐east Asia1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 60(2), pages 241-266, May.
    30. Rawski, Thomas G., 1969. "Chinese dominance of treaty port commerce and its implications, 1860-1875," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 7(1-2), pages 451-473.
    31. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1997. "Regional Trading Blocs in the World Economic System," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 72, October.
    32. K. C. Fung & Lawrence J. Lau & Yanyan Xiong, 2006. "Adjusted Estimates Of United States–China Bilateral Trade Balances: An Update," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 299-314, October.
    33. Huff, Gregg & Angeles, Luis, 2011. "Globalization, industrialization and urbanization in Pre-World War II Southeast Asia," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 20-36, January.
    34. Hadi SOESASTRO, 2006. "Regional Integration in East Asia: Achievements and Future Prospects," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 1(2), pages 215-234, December.
    35. Michel Fouquin & Jules Hugot, 2016. "Two Centuries of Bilateral Trade and Gravity data: 1827-2014," Vniversitas Económica 15129, Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá.
    36. Keen Meng Choy & Ichiro Sugimoto, 2013. "Trade, the Staple Theory of Growth, and Fluctuations in Colonial Singapore, 1900–39," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(2), pages 121-145, July.
    37. Peter A. Petri, 1993. "The East Asian Trading Bloc: An Analytical History," NBER Chapters, in: Regionalism and Rivalry: Japan and the United States in Pacific Asia, pages 21-52, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    38. Schiff, Maurice, 2001. "Will the Real “Natural Trading Partner” Please Stand Up?," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 16, pages 245-261.
    39. Eichengreen, Barry & Bayoumi, Tamim, 1996. "Is Asia an Optimum Currency Area? Can It Become One? Regional, Global and Historical Perspectives on Asian Monetary Relations," Center for International and Development Economics Research, Working Paper Series qt1td5x343, Center for International and Development Economics Research, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    40. Pravin Krishna, 2003. "Are Regional Trading Partners "Natural"?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(1), pages 202-231, February.
    41. Béatrice Dedinger & Paul Girard, 2017. "Exploring trade globalization in the long run: The RICardo project," Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1), pages 30-48, January.
    42. Rolf Langhammer, 1995. "Regional integration in East Asia. From market-driven regionalisation to institutionalised regionalism?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 131(1), pages 167-201, March.
    43. Chan‐Hyun Sohn, 2005. "Does The Gravity Model Explain South Korea'S Trade Flows?," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 417-430, December.
    44. Okubo, Toshihiro, 2007. "Trade bloc formation in inter-war Japan.: A gravity model analysis," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 214-236, June.
    45. Christopher Blattman & Michael A. Clemens & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2003. "Who Protected and Why? Tariffs the World Around 1870-1938," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2010, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    46. John Gallagher & Ronald Robinson, 1953. "The Imperialism Of Free Trade," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, August.
    47. Gregg Huff & Giovanni Caggiano, 2007. "Globalization and labor market integration in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Asia," Research in Economic History, in: Research in Economic History, pages 285-347, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    48. Federico, Giovanni & Tena-Junguito, Antonio, 2019. "World Trade, 1800-1938: A New Synthesis," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(1), pages 9-41, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alejandro Ayuso-Díaz, 2021. "Natural Trading Partners Versus Empires in East and Southeast Asia Regional Integration (1840-1938)," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 2110, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    2. Anna Golovko & Hasan Sahin, 2021. "Analysis of international trade integration of Eurasian countries: gravity model approach," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(3), pages 519-548, September.
    3. Timini, Jacopo, 2023. "Revisiting the ‘Cobden-Chevalier network’ trade and welfare effects," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Martin, Will, 2020. "Making Gravity Great Again," 2020: Economic Implications of COVID-19, December 14-15, Virtual Platform 339376, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    5. Kamalbek Karymshakov & Burulcha Sulaimanova, 2021. "The impact of infrastructure on trade in Central Asia," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 5-20, December.
    6. Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Sova, Anamaria & Sova, Robert, 2015. "Trade flows and trade specialisation: The case of China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 261-273.
    7. Ehsan Rasoulinezhad & Gil Seong Kang, 2016. "A Panel Data Analysis of South Korea’s Trade with OPEC Member Countries: The Gravity Model Approach," Iranian Economic Review (IER), Faculty of Economics,University of Tehran.Tehran,Iran, vol. 20(2), pages 203-224, Spring.
    8. Kurmanalieva, Elvira & Vinokurov, Evgeny, 2011. "Holding together or falling apart:Results of gravity equation of the CIS trade," MPRA Paper 32003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Piermartini, Roberta & Yotov, Yoto, 2016. "Estimating Trade Policy Effects with Structural Gravity," School of Economics Working Paper Series 2016-10, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University.
    10. Getachew Magnar Kitila & Fuzhong Chen, 2021. "Multilateral Trade Resistance, International Competitiveness and African International Exports: A Network Perspective," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 5(10), pages 111-126.
    11. Krishna P. Timsina & Richard J. Culas, 2020. "Impacts of Australia’s free trade agreements on trade in agricultural products: an aggregative and disaggregative analysis," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(3), pages 889-919, July.
    12. Sasidaran Gopalan & Luu Nguyen Trieu Duong & Ramkishen S. Rajan, 2020. "Trade configurations in Asia: Assessing de facto and de jure regionalism," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 1034-1058, April.
    13. Rongji Huang & Tengfei Nie & Yangguang Zhu & Shaofu Du, 2020. "Forecasting Trade Potential Between China and the Five Central Asian Countries: Under the Background of Belt and Road Initiative," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 1233-1247, April.
    14. Michele Fratianni & Francesco Marchionne, 2011. "The Limits to Integration," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume I, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Alejandro Ayuso‐Díaz & Antonio Tena‐Junguito, 2020. "Trade in the shadow of power: Japanese industrial exports in the interwar years," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 815-843, August.
    16. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry, 2014. "Gravity Equations: Workhorse,Toolkit, and Cookbook," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 131-195, Elsevier.
    17. Jacks, David S. & Novy, Dennis, 2018. "Market Potential and Global Growth over the Long Twentieth Century," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 221-237.
    18. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin, 2013. "Natural disasters and the effect of trade on income: A new panel IV approach," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 18-30.
    19. James Harrigan, 2001. "Specialization and the Volume of Trade: Do the Data Obey the Laws?," NBER Working Papers 8675, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Disdier, Anne-Celia & Mayer, Thierry, 2007. "Je t'aime, moi non plus: Bilateral opinions and international trade," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 1140-1159, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jjieco:v:63:y:2022:i:c:s0889158321000630. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622903 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.