Trading Blocs: States, Firms, and Regions in the World Economy

Abstract

Trading Blocs: States, Firms, and Regions in the World Economy. By Kerry A. Chase. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005. 322p. $70.00 cloth, $24.95 paper. The focus of this book by Kerry Chase is that the process of international trade liberalization has resulted in the development of three major regional economic blocs: the European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and a partial regional agreement in Asia largely driven by Japan. These three economic blocs are known in business schools as the “triad” of Europe, North America, and Asia. In The Regional Multinationals (2005), I have shown that the majority of international trade and investment takes place within these triad blocs rather than between them, and that even the world's largest 500 firms average over 72% of their sales within their home region. Basically, the analysis by Chase is fully consistent with such findings.