Dynamics and Politics in Regional Integration Arrangements: An Introduction

Overwhelming evidence links openness and economic growth. Inrecent years many developing countries have attempted to liberalizetheir trade and investment regimes, mostly through autonomousunilateral liberalization. At the same time, a growing numberof governments have begun to explore and participate in regionaltrading agreements. The agreements grant reciprocal trade preferencesto participating countries, resulting in discrimination againstnonmembers. The causes and consequences of regional integration have givenrise to an extensive and vigorous debate among both scholarsand policymakers. However, the quality of this debate has beenseriously hampered by the absence of clear analytical modelsand empirical evidence on many of the factors under discussion.Few of the recent arguments in favor of regional integrationarrangements have been satisfactorily formalized or tested.To address some of these issues, a World Bank research programfocuses on new and developing country aspects of regionalism.The program explores lacunae in the traditional static analysisof regional integration arrangements; addresses the dynamiceffects of integration, the economics of deep integration, andthe politics and political economy of regional integration arrangements;and compares regionalism with multilateralism. The articlesin this symposium address the topics of dynamics, politics,and political economy in regional integration agreements.     

Resource Accounting and Executive Agencies

Executive agencies have had several years' experience of the introduction and development of accruals based accounting systems. Senior agency managers therefore provide an authoritative source of information on the problems that could follow from introducing it more widely across government. A survey of senior managers revealed that, despite major improvements in accounting information systems, agencies still face difficulties in implementing accruals accounting. Government departments also seem unlikely to accept easily the switch from cash accounting to accruals accounting without extensive training. The effort and resources required for this should not be underestimated.     

Subsidies versus Public Provision of Private Goods as Instruments for Redistribution

The literatures on differential commodity taxes and on quantity controls to supplement income taxation have developed separately. This paper combines these two strands in the standard framework of optimal non-linear income taxation. We use a model with two types of households where the government has access to both subsidy policy and public provision of a good substitutable for leisure, and ouseholds can supplement the publicity provided good from the market. We present conditions under which policy should involve one or both of these two instruments alongside income taxation. The model is extended to many ability types.     

Crisis management in information system projects: lessons of a case study

This case study is reflective of the action‐research perspective documents applied in an intervention to manage a crisis during an information technology development project. The aim was to better understand how tools used to solve unstructured problems might help resolve such crises. The development and implementation of an intervention utilizing multiple tools is described. As a result of the intervention, a shared meaning of the crisis emerged among the major stakeholders along with a consensus as to appropriate solutions and action steps. Work on the project resumed to the satisfaction of management. Recommendations for future research are offered. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in Inequalities of Access to Dental Care in Australia 1977–2005

Information on dental visits, income and demographic variables were drawn from the Australian National Health Survey between 1977 and 2005. Income‐related inequality in access to dental care was calculated using the generalised concentration index (G) and decomposition methods were employed to examine associations with socio‐demographic and policy‐amenable factors. Statistically significant increases in inequality in dental care use were found after 1995. From 0.026 in 1995, G increased to 0.045 in 2005. The associations between increases in inequality and changes in the uptake of private health insurance suggest a contributory role of the introduction of the Commonwealth government's 30 per cent rebate for private health insurance.     

Trade and market selection: Evidence from manufacturing plants in Colombia

We examine the link between trade liberalization and aggregate productivity, with a focus on improved market selection resulting from a reduction in trade barriers and in the dispersion of these barriers across producers. Our analysis exploits tariff changes across sectors after the Colombian trade reform. An additional advantage of our analysis is that our TFP measure does not include demand and price effects. We find that reduced trade protection makes plant survival depend more closely on productivity. Using a dynamic simulation, we find that enhanced selection increases aggregate productivity substantially. Trade liberalization also increases productivity of incumbent plants and improves the allocation of activity. We find larger effects on allocative efficiency with our TFP measure than with a traditional measure including price effects.     

Regional Cooperation among Microstates

Owing to their low bargaining power and high negotiation costs, microstates face severe disadvantages when dealing with the outside world. Forming a group with neighboring nations might be an effective instrument to address this problem. This paper presents a model in which the decision to form, expand or join a regional club is based on negotiation costs and bargaining power rather than on the traditional costs and benefits of trade integration. The model is used to determine the optimal and the equilibrium group size under various entry conditions. The welfare implications of the entry conditions are also examined.