IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/adbrei/0005.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Toward Win-Win Regionalism in Asia: Issues and Challenges in Forming Efficient Trade Agreements

Author

Listed:
  • Plummer, Michael G.

    (Johns Hopkins University SAISâÂÂBologna)

Abstract

Many economists tend to be skeptical of the merits of Free-Trade Areas (FTAs) due to their second-best nature, while others support them under certain conditions, particularly as they allow for a more comprehensive treatment of trade- and investment-related issues than is currently possible under the 149-member WTO. This paper endeavors to bridge this analytical chasm by developing a blueprint for âÂÂfirst-bestâ regionalism based on âÂÂbest practices.â It then applies the associated set of rules to existing FTAs in Asia (both intra- and extra-regional) to guage the degree to which they approach best practices. In summary, we find that most accords receive high marks in most areas, with the exception of âÂÂrules of originâ and certain service sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Plummer, Michael G., 2006. "Toward Win-Win Regionalism in Asia: Issues and Challenges in Forming Efficient Trade Agreements," Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration 5, Asian Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbrei:0005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://aric.adb.org/pdf/workingpaper/WP5%20Plummer%20011006.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy J. Kehoe, 1992. "Modeling the dynamic impact of North American free trade," Working Papers 491, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    2. Lewis, Jeffrey D. & Robinson, Sherman & Wang, Zhi, 1995. "Beyond the Uruguay Round: The implications of an Asian free trade area," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 35-90.
    3. Andrew K. Rose, 2004. "Do We Really Know That the WTO Increases Trade?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 98-114, March.
    4. Baldwin, Richard & Seghezza, Elena, 1996. "Trade-induced Investment-led Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 1420, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Kehoe, T.J., 1992. "Assessing the Economic Impact of North American Free Trade," Papers 265, Minnesota - Center for Economic Research.
    6. Mordechai E. Kreinin & Michael G. Plummer, 2002. "Economic Integration and Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2426.
    7. Thomas W. Hertel & Terrie Walmsley & Ken Itakura, 2005. "Dynamic Effects Of The "New Age" Free Trade Agreement Between Japan And Singapore," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Philippa Dee & Michael Ferrantino (ed.), Quantitative Methods For Assessing The Effects Of Non-Tariff Measures And Trade Facilitation, chapter 18, pages 483-523, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Thomas W. Hertel & Terrie Walmsley & Ken Itakura, 2005. "Dynamic Effects Of The "New Age" Free Trade Agreement Between Japan And Singapore," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Philippa Dee & Michael Ferrantino (ed.), Quantitative Methods For Assessing The Effects Of Non-Tariff Measures And Trade Facilitation, chapter 18, pages 483-523, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Kemp, Murray C. & Wan, Henry Jr., 1976. "An elementary proposition concerning the formation of customs unions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 95-97, February.
    10. Michael G. Plummer & Reid W. Click, 2009. "The ASEAN Economic Community and the European Experience," Chapters, in: Koichi Hamada & Beate Reszat & Ulrich Volz (ed.), Towards Monetary and Financial Integration in East Asia, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Robert Scollay & John P. Gilbert, 2001. "New Regional Trading Arrangements in the Asia Pacific?," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number pa63, April.
    12. Nathaniel Landingin & David Wadley, 2005. "Export processing zones and growth triangle development: the case of the BIMP-EAGA, Southeast Asia," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 67-96.
    13. Dollar, David, 1992. "Outward-Oriented Developing Economies Really Do Grow More Rapidly: Evidence from 95 LDCs, 1976-1985," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(3), pages 523-544, April.
    14. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1993. "Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262570971, April.
    15. Kawai, Masahiro, 2005. "East Asian economic regionalism: progress and challenges," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 29-55, February.
    16. Patrick A. Messerlin, 2001. "Measuring the Costs of Protection in Europe: European Commercial Policy in the 2000s," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 102, April.
    17. World Bank, 2005. "Global Economic Prospects 2005 : Trade, Regionalism and Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14783.
    18. Yinhua Mai & Philip Adams & Mingtai Fan & Ronglin Li & Zhaoyang Zheng, 2005. "Modelling the Potential Benefits of an Australia-China free Trade Agreement," Centre of Policy Studies/IMPACT Centre Working Papers g-153, Victoria University, Centre of Policy Studies/IMPACT Centre.
    19. Pissarides, Christopher A, 1997. "Learning by Trading and the Returns to Human Capital in Developing Countries," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(1), pages 17-32, January.
    20. Berglas, Eitan, 1979. "Preferential Trading Theory: The n Commodity Case," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(2), pages 315-331, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael G. Plummer & Reid W. Click, 2009. "The ASEAN Economic Community and the European Experience," Chapters, in: Koichi Hamada & Beate Reszat & Ulrich Volz (ed.), Towards Monetary and Financial Integration in East Asia, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Hideaki Hirata & M. Ayhan Kose & Chris Otrok, "undated". "Regionalization vs. Globalization," Working Paper 164456, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    3. Michael G. Plummer, 2014. "The emerging “post-Doha” agenda and the new regionalism," Chapters, in: Masahiro Kawai & Peter J. Morgan & Pradumna B. Rana (ed.), New Global Economic Architecture, chapter 8, pages 172-196, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Okabe, Misa & Urata, Shujiro, 2014. "The impact of AFTA on intra-AFTA trade," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 12-31.
    5. Schou-Zibell, Lotte & Madhur, Srinivasa, 2010. "Regulatory Reforms for Improving the Business Environment in Selected Asian Economies - How Monitoring and Comparative Benchmarking Can Provide Incentive for Reform," Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration 40, Asian Development Bank.
    6. Ramesh Chandra & Rajiv Kumar, 2010. "South Asian Integration: Prospects and Lessons from East Asia," Chapters, in: Masahiro Kawai & Jong-Wha Lee & Peter A. Petri & Giovanni Capanelli (ed.), Asian Regionalism in the World Economy, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Rigg, Robert & Schou-Zibell, Lotte, 2009. "The Financial Crisis and Money Markets in Emerging Asia," Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration 38, Asian Development Bank.
    8. Woohyoung Kim, 2010. "A Study on the Feasibility of an FTAAP and Korea's Strategy," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 13(2), pages 281-302, June.
    9. Syed H. Shah & Muhammad A. Kamal & Da L. Yu, 2022. "Did China‐Pakistan free trade agreement promote trade and development in Pakistan?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3459-3474, July.
    10. Madhur, Srinivasa & Wignaraja, Ganeshan & Darjes, Peter, 2009. "Roads for Asian Integration: Measuring ADB's Contribution to the Asian Highway Network," Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration 37, Asian Development Bank.
    11. McKibbin, Warwick J. & Chanthapun, Waranya Pim, 2009. "Exchange Rate Regimes in the Asia-Pacific Region and the Global Financial Crisis," Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration 36, Asian Development Bank.

    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. Michael G. Plummer, 2007. "‘Best Practices’ in Regional Trading Agreements: An Application to Asia," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(12), pages 1771-1796, December.
    2. Díaz-Bonilla, Carolina, 2007. "Poverty and Income Distribution Under Different Factor Market Assumptions: A Macro-Micro Model," Conference papers 331625, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    3. Gouranga Gopal Das & Soamiely Andriamananjara, 2006. "Hub-and-Spokes Free Trade Agreements in the Presence of Technology Spillovers: An Application to the Western Hemisphere," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 142(1), pages 33-66, April.
    4. Ramesh Chandra & Rajiv Kumar, 2010. "South Asian Integration: Prospects and Lessons from East Asia," Chapters, in: Masahiro Kawai & Jong-Wha Lee & Peter A. Petri & Giovanni Capanelli (ed.), Asian Regionalism in the World Economy, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Peter J. Lloyd & Donald Maclaren, 2004. "Gains and Losses from Regional Trading Agreements: A Survey," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(251), pages 445-467, December.
    6. Chang, Yang-Ming & Xiao, Renfeng, 2015. "Preferential trade agreements between asymmetric countries: Free trade areas (with rules of origin) vs. customs unions," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 28-43.
    7. Michael G. Plummer, 2014. "The emerging “post-Doha” agenda and the new regionalism," Chapters, in: Masahiro Kawai & Peter J. Morgan & Pradumna B. Rana (ed.), New Global Economic Architecture, chapter 8, pages 172-196, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Michael G. Plummer & Reid W. Click, 2009. "The ASEAN Economic Community and the European Experience," Chapters, in: Koichi Hamada & Beate Reszat & Ulrich Volz (ed.), Towards Monetary and Financial Integration in East Asia, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Plummer, Michael G., 2012. "The Emerging “Post-Doha” Agenda and the New Regionalism in the Asia-Pacific," ADBI Working Papers 384, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    10. Jong‐Wha Lee & Innwon Park & Kwanho Shin, 2008. "Proliferating Regional Trade Arrangements: Why and Whither?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(12), pages 1525-1557, December.
    11. Takashi Terada, 2006. "The Making of Asia's First Bilateral FTA: Origins and Regional Implications of the Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement," Asia Pacific Economic Papers 354, Australia-Japan Research Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    12. Tarlok Singh, 2010. "Does International Trade Cause Economic Growth? A Survey," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1517-1564, November.
    13. Linda Low, 2004. "A Comparative Evaluation and Prognosis of Asia Pacific Bilateral and Regional Trade Arrangements," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 18(1), pages 1-11, May.
    14. Siebert, Horst, 2005. "TAFTA - a dead horse or an attractive open club?," Kiel Working Papers 1240, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Mohammad Amin & Jamal Haidar, 2014. "Trade facilitation and country size," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1441-1466, December.
    16. Richard Pomfret & Uwe Kaufmann & Christopher Findlay, 2010. "Are Preferential Tariffs Utilized? Evidence from Australian Imports, 2000-9," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2010-13, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    17. Fugazza, Marco & Maur, Jean-Christophe, 2008. "Non-tariff barriers in CGE models: How useful for policy?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 475-490.
    18. Arjan Lejour & Vladimir Solanic & Paul Tang, 2009. "EU Accession and Income Growth: An Empirical Approach," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 16(1), pages 127-144, May.
    19. Innwon Park, 2006. "East Asian Regional Trade Agreements: Do They Promote Global Free Trade?," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(4), pages 547-568, December.
    20. Pedro J. Martinez Edo, 2011. "Reciprocal liberalization: Bilateral, plurilateral or multilateral?," STUDIES IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT, in: United Nations ESCAP (ed.), Trade beyond Doha: Prospects for Asia-Pacific Least Developed Countries, Studies in Trade and Investment 76, chapter 4, pages 60-94, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asian integration; free trade agreement; best practices; Asian development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

    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:ris:adbrei:0005. 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: Ivan B. de Leon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/oradbph.html .

    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.