GEI Projects

7.REGIONAL GROUPS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Principal Researcher

Ms SHEILA PAGE
Overseas Development Institute

Contact

Sheila Page
Overseas Development Institute
Regent's College
London NW1 4NS

Tel: 020 7393 1600
Fax: 020 7487 7590
Email: s.page@odi.org.uk

Duration

1 August 1994 – 31 September 1997

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

In the last five years, new regional trade organizations among developing countries and between developing and industrial countries have proliferated, and there has been a strong revival of intra-regional trade among developing countries in Asia and Latin America. These trends raise questions both about whether trade patterns are changing or responding to new types of influence and about the role of regional organizations within the international system. It is the objective of this research to examine these questions.

STUDY DESIGN

The research will therefore analyse the new trade flows, asking why the apparent new directions for trade (and investment) have emerged. It will examine the new organizations, to determine the objectives of their members, in particular whether they are seen as simply fostering existing regional cooperation and trade or if there is a commitment for the members to behave collectively with respect to other countries. Some of the organizations are revived versions of long-existing ones, and here the research will ask why they failed before, and under what circumstances the new ones are likely to be effective.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

The existence of more and stronger regional groups raises the question of whether international organizations, especially the new World Trade Organization, will need to adapt their structures. (In two cases, the EU in the WTO and in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, there is a regional group which is itself a member of other organizations.) Developing countries trying to define a trade and development policy might also need to adapt to a world of blocs.