Asia’s Disparate Political Economies and Prospects for Transnational “Convergence”

Abstract

Orthodox accounts of regional institutional development often stress the importance of establishing a transnational regulatory framework within which capitalist development can occur. Such accounts generally fail, however, to consider either the different forms of corporate organisation found across nations or the specifics of national political systems. There is generally an implicit assumption that national differences are either of minimal significance, or that a process of “convergence” is occurring toward a western-style, liberal-democratic end-point. This paper challenges these assumptions and suggests that attempts to establish legalistic, rule-based trade regimes like APEC will be difficult, especially where they threaten existent political structures or distributional coalitions. Moreover, it is suggested that if “convergence” does occur, it is not inevitable that it will be in the direction of greater democratic reform and political freedom.