Regions and Development

At the 1996 EADI Conference, the papers presented in the World Trade and Trade Policy workshop looked at the new trends in regionalism from a variety of points of view for different institutions. They considered the effects of regions, their implications for policy and performance in the developing countries and for international economic institutions, and tried to interpret them in terms of economic and political theory.

Why do countries come together in regions? Why do some regions succeed? Are regions economic or political tools, for development or for negotiation?
At the 1996 EADI Conference, the papers presented in the World Trade and Trade Policy workshop looked at the new trends in regionalism from a variety of points of view for different institutions. They were searching for the effects of regions, for their implications for policy and performance in the developing countries and for international economic institutions, and trying to interpret them in terms of economic and political theory.
It is too early to reach structured conclusions. The regions are too new, and evidence on their success and their effects is still limited. Three conclusions start to emerge: there is some evidence for a more widespread interest in formal regional organisations, although these are taking too wide a range of forms to be treated as a single phenomenon. The general analyses and comparisons of regions sugge

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A dozen studies query why countries come together into regions, why some regions succeed, and whether regions are economic tools for development or political tools for negotiation. They find that the examples are too disparate to be called a single phenomenon, that political motives outweigh economic to some degree, and that other forces and influences in international relations cut across regional interests. US distribution is by ISBS. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)