Northeast Asia: The role of international and regional economic institutions and regimes

This paper considers the international and regional economic institutional environment within which the economies of Northeast Asia interact. Most of the paper is about the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), and its potential regional institutional role. There are a number of issues which must be resolved if APEC is to successfully implement its future policy agenda of trade and investment liberalization, facilitation, and economic development. Various approaches are assessed in light of the free rider problem and timing concerns. Trade liberalization is the most contentious issue, given the lack of consensus on MFN treatment for non-APEC members, and the unwillingness of some members to engage in formal, comprehensive, and substantive trade negotiations. A new approach to trade liberalization, based on voluntary liberalization and peer group pressure has been proposed, termed "concerted unilateral liberalization." Whether it will succeed depends on how willing APEC members are to reach substantive, concrete agreements to implement the vision enunciated at Bogor in 1994 of free trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 for developed economy members and by 2020 for the developing members