Regional Integration in Developing Countries: Some Lessons Based on Case Studies

39 Pages Posted: 9 Dec 2003

See all articles by Rasul Shams

Rasul Shams

Hamburg Institute of International Economics

Date Written: 2003

Abstract

The main focus of this paper is the question if the success of regional integration organisation in developing countries is, in fact, dependent on factors like similarity of their economic structure, market size or lack of committment. It is shown that there are also other more important institutional and politico-economical reasons to explain the functioning of such organisations in developing countries. Case studies of ECOWAS and SADC will be used to discuss this question. It is also very often argued that southsouth integration is inferior to north-south integration. This will be discussed considering the case of MERCOSUR as an example.

Keywords: regional integration, economic development, Africa, Latin America, political

JEL Classification: F15, O1, P16

Suggested Citation

Shams, Rasul, Regional Integration in Developing Countries: Some Lessons Based on Case Studies (2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=475781 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.475781

Rasul Shams (Contact Author)

Hamburg Institute of International Economics ( email )

Heimhuder Strasse 71
D-20347 Hamburg, DE Hamburg 20148
Germany
+49 40 42834 442 (Phone)

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