Schiff, Maurice2014-06-302014-06-302000-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/18851The author combines two theories - one about how multilateral trade liberalization affects regional integration, the other about how it affects political disintegration - to explain why the ratio of free trade areas to customs unions has increased over time. Ethier argues (1998, 1999) that multilateral trade liberalization led to the recent wave of regional integration arrangements. Alesina and others (1997), in discussing the number and size of countries, argue that multilateral trade liberalization leads to political disintegration, with an increase in the number of countries. Combining the two arguments, the author hypothesizes that as multilateral trade liberalization proceeds, and the number of regional integration arrangements increases, the ratio of free trade areas to customs unions also increases. The data, which show that ratio increasing in the 1990s, are consistent with the hypothesis.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOANDEAN PACTANTI-MARKET POLICIESANTI-TRADEBLOC WELFARECAPITAL GOODSCENTRAL BANKCHANNELCOALCOMMON MARKETCOMPETITIVENESSCONSUMERSCURRENCYCURRENCY AREACUSTOMSCUSTOMS UNIONCUSTOMS UNION FORMATIONCUSTOMS UNIONSDECOLONIZATIONDEEP INTEGRATIONDYNAMIC GAINSEAST AFRICAN COMMUNITYECONOMETRIC ANALYSISECONOMIC AGREEMENTSECONOMIC COMMUNITYECONOMIC DOMINANCEECONOMIC INTEGRATIONECONOMIC LOSSECONOMIC THEORIESEVIDENCE CUSTOMS UNIONSEXOGENOUS REDUCTION IN TRADE BARRIERSEXPORTSEXTERNAL BARRIERSEXTERNAL TARIFFEXTERNALITYFREE MOVEMENTFREE MOVEMENT OF FACTORSFREE MOVEMENT OF LABORFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AGREEMENTSFREE TRADE AREAFREE TRADE AREASGDPGEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONGEOGRAPHYGROWING TRADEHARMONIZATIONHARMONIZATION OF REGULATIONSHIGH TARIFFSHIGH TRADE BARRIERSIMPORT DUTYINCOMEINCOME LOSSESINCOME TRANSFERSINTEGRATION MEASURESINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNATIONAL RIVERSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICYLDCSMANUFACTURED GOODSMARKET SIZEMEMBER COUNTRIESMONETARY COMMUNITYMONETARY POLICYMONETARY UNIONMULTILATERAL LIBERALIZATIONMULTILATERAL LIBERALIZATION EPISODESMULTILATERAL SYSTEMMULTILATERAL TRADEMULTILATERAL TRADE LIBERALIZATIONMULTILATERALISMNATION-STATESNATIONAL BODIESOPEN TRADEOPEN TRADE REGIMEOPENNESSPARETO OPTIMUMPARTNER COUNTRIESPARTNER COUNTRYPER CAPITA INCOMEPOINTPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL INTEGRATIONPREFERENTIAL MARKET ACCESSPRODUCTION METHODSPRODUCTION STRUCTUREPROTECTIONISMPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC POLICIESRAW MATERIALSREGIONAL AGREEMENTSREGIONAL COOPERATIONREGIONAL INTEGRATIONREGIONAL INTEGRATION AGREEMENTSREGIONAL INTEGRATION ARRANGEMENTSREGIONAL LEVELREGIONALISMRULES OF ORIGINSOUTHERN AFRICASTRENGTHENING DEMOCRACYTARIFF BARRIERSTARIFF EQUILIBRIUMTARIFF RATESTARIFF REVENUESTARIFF SCHEDULETARIFF STRUCTURETAXATIONTERMS OF TRADETRADE BARRIERSTRADE BLOCSTRADE DIVERSIONTRADE POLICYTRADE REGIMETRADE RESTRICTIONSTRADING SYSTEMUNILATERAL REFORMSUNILATERAL TRADEUNILATERAL TRADE LIBERALIZATIONWESTWORLD EXPORTS10.1596/1813-9450-2350