Alliances in international governmental organizations, regional trade agreement formation, and multinational enterprise regionalization strategy

Abstract

Drawing from political science alliance theories, we explain why countries are likely to enter regional trade agreements. We argue that the probability that this will happen is higher if the countries are allies in the same international governmental organizations (IGOs), as such alliances can help build trust and reduce political risk. Our results show that IGO scope and also partner reliability and influence in the IGO network play important roles. Our findings provide guidance to multinational enterprises in formulating regionalization strategies.