Explaining FTA Proliferation: A Policy Diffusion Framework / M. Sols & S.N. Katada -- Exclusion Fears and Competitive Regionalism in East Asia / S. Urata -- Political-Security Competition and the FTA Movement: Motivations and Consequences / M.M. Mochizuki -- Competitive Regionalism through Bilateral and Regional Rule Making: Standard Setting and Locking-In / J. Nakagawa -- The US as a Bilateral Player: The Impetus for Asymmetric Free Trade Agreements / C. Quiliconi & C. Wise -- Chile: A Pioneer in Trade Policy / B. Stallings -- Competitive Regionalism and Mexico's FTA Strategy / A. Flores-Quiroga -- Singapore and ASEAN's Competitive Regionalism in Southeast Asia and Beyond / T. Terada -- South Korea's FTAs: Moving from an Emulative to a Competitive Strategy / M.G. Koo -- Japan's Competitive FTA Strategy: Commercial Opportunity versus Political Rivalry / M. Solis -- China's Competitive FTA Strategy: Realism on a Liberal Slide / J. Yang -- Conclusion: Free Trade Agreements in a Competitive World / B. Stallings & S.N. Katada
Summary
The rapid proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) is remarkable given the abundant scepticism about their economic benefits. Policy diffusion models offer the key to this puzzle since they highlight how these different sets of preferential trade agreements are interconnected (either because they generate externalities on non-members or because they disseminate novel policy paradigms), thereby underscoring the impact of peer pressure on FTA dissemination. The book also offers a sophisticated understanding of the drivers behind FTA proliferation, beyond traditional economic arguments, to encompass international political rivalry and the race to shape international trade rules. In so doing, it addresses the fundamental question as to how FTAs affect the regional integration process itself. FTAs can work for/or against emergence of coherent regional blocs, and this book explores which conditions favor one outcome over the other
