Abstract

Covering major Asian economic blocs and dialogues, this study comprehensively reviews the progress of “Asian” economic integration. The empirical results show that comprehensive, continent-wide economic integration in Asia is unlikely to happen soon since integration has been mainly confined to East and Southeast Asia, while other regions are much less integrated and globalised. However, the achievement of gradual integration would mutually benefit all members through capacity building, technological development, labour supply enlargement, and market expansion. With the forthcoming success of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ single market and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, this study also argues that the attributes proposed in the previous literature, e.g. historical reconciliation, common institution, and economic, politic, and social heterogeneity are irrelevant in the context of Asian economic integration. Instead, the scope, depth, and sequencing of the integration process, coupled with supporting geopolitical factors, largely explain the success of the Asia model.

摘要

本研究涵盖亚洲主要经济集团和对话，全面回顾“亚洲”经济一体化进程。实证结果表明，亚洲大陆范围内的全面经济一体化不太可能很快发生，因为一体化主要局限于东亚和东南亚，而其他地区的一体化和全球化程度要低得多。然而，逐步融合的实现将通过能力建设、技术发展、扩大劳动力供应和市场拓展，使所有成员互惠互利。随着东南亚国家联盟单一市场和区域全面经济伙伴关系即将取得成功，本研究还认为，以往文献中提出的历史和解、共同制度和经济等属性，在亚洲经济一体化的背景下，政治和社会异质性无关紧要。相反，整合过程的范围、深度和顺序，加上支持的地缘政治因素，在很大程度上解释了亚洲模式的成功。