This volume brings together experts from different world regions. It presents various experiences with building indicator systems for monitoring the implementation of regional economic integration policies such as preferential trade areas, common markets or economic and monetary unions. The volume discusses both the technical and governance aspects of such systems, and best practices. The regional experiences that are covered include: the European Union, Eurasia, ASEAN, the East African Community (EAC), COMESA, CARICOM, the African-Caribbean-Pacific Group, and the Americas. In addition, various chapters discuss cross-cutting methodological challenges related to trade-related indicators.

Developing countries have joined the rapidly growing global system of regional trade agreements (RTAs) over the past years. The drive towards regional integration has advanced with the formation of new markets and groups in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Oceania with few developing countries remaining outside these regional schemes. This volume looks at how 'getting governance right' is a central element for successful RTA implementation, taking stock of the quality and effectiveness of the monitoring of development country RTAs around the world. Organized by the main world regions and primarily focusing on developing country RTAs, the book also includes two case studies focused on monitoring in developed country regional agreements by way of comparison. The contributors operationalize governance in the context of RTA implementation with a more narrow and technical term of 'monitoring' and provide eight important lessons for assessing monitoring around the world.

A unique examination of why the quest for global free trade often forgets that trade liberalization is organized regionally rather than multilaterally. There are now more than 250 regional integration initiatives and this number is steadily increasing. This trend raises a key question: What is the impact of regional integration, both for the countries involved and for those excluded from regional integration schemes? Using a combined economic, political science and scientific approach, this book explores how regional integration can be measured and evaluated and delivers comprehensive answers. It looks at the methodological problems involved in designing monitoring tools for regional integration in a systematic way and makes a number of concrete suggestions for designing and organising systems of indicators of regional integration. It also offers a critical overview of available indicators and tools and presents crucial new monitoring instruments. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of international relations and economics as well as policy makers and professionals within international and regional organizations.

The Regional Integration Manual brings together different methods for monitoring and analysing regional integration processes in a systematic way. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach, it seeks to provide officials in regional organisations, researchers in think tanks, academics and students worldwide with an accessible set of both quantitative and qualitative tools, useful in their day-to-day work. The Manual addresses an increasing demand for such tools, in a world where mechanisms and ideas for effective regional government and governance are in dire need, whereas the monitoring and analytical capabilities of official and non-governmental actors often lag behind. It also addresses a rapidly growing academic community studying the determinants, depth, speed and other characteristics of regional integration and co-operation. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach, The Regional Integration Manual will be of interest to scholars of governance and regional politics as well as policy-makers and those in regional organisations.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This timely Handbook offers a detailed cross-policy assessment on the need, locale and impact of regional cooperation and integration, addressing how the principles of regional integration have affected multi-level governance and subsequent public policy. Individual chapters provide explanations of what regional cooperation means in a specific policy area, identify relevant theories, and present empirical evidence to support the arguments outlined.

Regional Integration in the Union for the Mediterranean: Progress Report monitors major trends and evolutions of integration in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The Report examines five domains of regional integration, namely trade integration, financial integration, infrastructure integration, movement of people, as well as research and higher education.

This joint publication by the OECD and the European Commission presents a comprehensive international comparison across all EU, OECD and G20 countries of the integration outcomes for immigrants and their children, through 25 indicators organised around three areas: labour market and skills ...