International Financial Integration of East Asia and Pacific

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of how economies in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region have been integrating financially with the rest of the world since the 1990s, using bilateral data on portfolio investments, syndicated bank loans, mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and greenfield investments. Four main messages emerge from the analysis. First, the region is increasingly more connected with itself and with the rest of the world, even relative to GDP. Second, although economies in the North capture the bulk of the region's inward and outward investments, EAP's connectivity with the South has grown relatively faster. Third, EAP is relatively more connected through arm’s length financing (portfolio investments and syndicated loans) with the more financially developed North, and through FDI (M&A and greenfield investments) with itself and the South. Fourth, more developed EAP economies have a larger role in EAP’s arm’s length investments than in the region's FDI.