Regional Economic Institutions Research Articles

Institutional difference and foreign direct investment location choice: Evidence from China

AbstractResting upon an extensive data set on foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in China, we investigate the role of institutional difference in determining the locational choice of foreign direct investment (FDI). Estimation results using firm‐level discrete choice model suggest that FIEs from source countries that are more remote institutionally from the Chinese mainland exhibit a higher degree of sensitivity to regional economic institutions in their choice of FDI location. Furthermore, we find that FIEs coming from countries with better institutions than China are more sensitive to the institutional difference. Interestingly, we find that the deterrent effect of institutional distance on FDI entry is mitigated for FIEs coming from countries with more ethnic Chinese individuals in their overall populations.

What is stopping India’s rapid decarbonisation? Examining social factors, speed, and institutions in Odisha

To avoid the worst effects of climate change, the world needs to phase out fossil fuel use rapidly and at scale. While there is increasing attention to the temporal dynamics shaping country-specific transition challenges, sub-national level assessments of transition implications, especially in the Global South remain critically under-studied. This is an area of increasing significance due to the highly localised nature of the complex social institutional context shaping global energy futures. India presents a particularly challenging setting for a smooth energy transition. It has one of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy development plans. At the same time, its reliance on coal – for reliable and affordable energy, to support its economically upward movement – is expected to continue for several decades. This paper analyses potential bottlenecks to India’s decarbonisation plans drawing on a case study in the eastern state of Odisha. It considers coal's deep ties with local and regional economic, industrial, political, and social institutions, that have caused India's sub-national political economies to be deeply complex and multi-dimensional. The paper highlights significant bottlenecks that may threaten India’s efforts towards rapid decarbonisation, and presents potential pathways forward.

Constructing global citizenship education at the regional level: regionalism and Caribbean citizen education

ABSTRACT This conceptual paper examines the development of global citizenship education (GCE) by looking at economic regionalism’s political economy. First, this paper situates the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) citizenship education initiatives within the larger scope of global citizenship. Using a historical policy analysis, this article then explores the nexus between economic integration and the construction of citizenship by analysing CARICOM’s Human Resource Development (HRD) 2030 Strategy. In examining the HRD 2030 Strategy, it can be seen how the influence of both regional and global needs is being integrated into an initiative to standardise citizenship for an economically competitive Caribbean. Through the lens of neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism, we reveal how the Ideal Caribbean Person initiative is a concept of regional citizenship created by regional economic policies and structural institutions. We conclude by arguing that the construction of global citizenship education at the regional level is, therefore, the consolidation of regional norms and their translation into a global context.

Modeling the co-evolution of economic institutions and the economy of resource producing regions

The purpose of the study is to develop a model for the co-evolution of the regional economy and economic institutions. The research methods used: abstract-logical for the study of theoretical aspects and the experience of modeling co-evolution; and economic-mathematical for the development of own model of coevolution. The results of the study: approaches to modeling the evolution of economic institutions, as well as the co-evolution of the regional economy and economic institutions are considered, strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches to modeling co-evolution are identified, on the basis of the logistic model and Lotka-Volterra equations, an own co-evolution model has been developed, which includes three entities: regional economy, “good” institution and “bad” institution. Three versions of the model have been developed: the co-evolution of the regional economy and the “good” institution, the co-evolution of the regional economy and the “bad institution,” and a variant of the co-evolution of all three entities simultaneously, in which the “good” and “bad” institutions interact according to the “predator-prey” model, and their the cumulative effect determines the development of the regional economy. Numerical experiments have been carried out in the MathLab, which have shown the capabilities of the model to reflect the results of the co-evolution of the economy of a resource-producing region and economic institutions. In the first variant, a “good” institution promotes economic growth in excess of the level determined by resource availability. In the second variant, the “bad” institution has a disincentive effect on the GRP, as a result of which the GRP falls below the level determined by the resource endowment. In the third variant, the interaction of “good” and “bad” institutions still contributes to economic growth above the level determined by resource availability, but causes cyclical fluctuations in the GRP.

Russia in international economic institutions: are there contradictions in the regional and global agendas?

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the analysis of Russia’s agenda in global and regional international economic institutions. Our aim is to reveal the main goals of Russia’s agenda in these institutions as well as their realisation and to find whether there is a contradiction or complementarity between Russian participation in global and in regional initiatives. We identify three of Russia’s main goals within the system of global and regional economic institutions as follows: increasing the role of Russia in global and regional economic governance; safeguarding the national economy from external shocks and facilitating its development; and ensuring the interests of Russian economic agents. We conclude that on the global level Russia has faced limitations on realising these goals and lacks its own agenda for international finance and trade issues. However, Russia has created and supported mechanisms for their realisation on the regional and trans-regional level.

Коммуникационные стратегии региональных медиа и институтов экономики

Коммуникационные стратегии региональных медиа и институтов экономики

A Step Closer: Economic Integration and the African Continental Free Trade Area

Post-colonial Africa views economic integration as an endogenous means for attaining self-reliant, sustainable development. Working under various regional and sub-regional economic institutions, states elaborated several norms in search of legitimacy in economic competence. However, several political and economic pathogens, including weak institutions, have blighted those efforts. This paper interrogates the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA or CFTA), which is the latest attempt to reboot the integration drive and achieve sustainable development. The CFTA seeks to create a geographic zone where goods and services will move freely among member states by removing trade distortions and boosting factor mobility, competition, and investment. After a rigorous analysis of the relevant normative instruments and examining the vertical and horizontal relationship between the CFTA and regional economic communities (RECs)/member states, the paper articulates some objective criteria for measuring the CFTA’s effectiveness. It concludes that, if faithfully implemented, the CFTA could maximize utility and increase welfare. For the analysis and conclusions, the paper deploys principles of public international law as well as economic theories, with a blend of political and moral philosophy.

Factors Affecting the Development of the Machine-Building and Metal-Working Industry in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra

The interest to a research of the factors affecting the development of the machine-building and metal-working industry is connected to a research of the influence of institutional factors on the sectoral composition of the economy in a natural resourcerich region. The initial data are the results of the questionnaire survey and statistics. The research is focused on the factors of the evolution of the machine-building and metal-working industry in a natural resource-rich region. We analyse factors influencing the development of this industry in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra. The purpose of the study is to identify the factors that influence the development of the metal-working industry under crisis and sanctions. Our hypothesis is that the machine-building and metal-working industry in Yugra derives from oil production. The basic methods are questionnaire survey and economic and statistical analysis, in particular, the multiple correlation method and autocorrelation method. We have found the influence of informal institutions on the development of the industry. Moreover, we have revealed the most important factors and tendencies for the development of the industry. The machine-building and metal-working industry remains dependent on the rate of national currency, however the dependence on oil prices. The results of the analysis demonstrate that informal norms and rules have both positive and negative impact on the development of the industry. The most important positive factors are the level of competition in the industry, state strategy for the development of the industry. The most important factors that negatively affect the development of the industry are: skill level and composition of labour resources, geographical location of the region. There is a tendency of enterprises consolidation and the increase in labour productivity, a growth of capital intensity of production, positive influence of inflation, and increase in the role of export. The dependence on the rate of national currency remains, and the dependence on oil prices can be considered to be overcome. The scientific contribution consists in revealing the influence of informal institutions on the development of the industry, as well as in the identification of interdependencies and trends, which are difficult to explain. We have concluded that the machine-building and metal-working industry derives from the leading industry of the region — oil and gas production, and its development is increasingly defined by internal factors. The results can be applied in public administration at the regional level, as well as for legislative adjustments and further scientific research. The question of what is primary — regional economic institutions or whether the economic development of the industry in the region, remains contentious and can be considered as a limitation or direction for future research.

Evolution and Specificity of the Economic Institutions of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra

The paper is dedicated to the study of the evolution of economic institutions in the resource-producing region, to the investigation of their specificity and institutional traps. As the initial data, the legal framework, the experience of the functioning of economic institutions and statistical data were used. The subject matter of the research is the influence of regional specificity on the evolution of economic institutions. The research topic is the analysis of the evolution, specificity and institutional traps of the economic institutions of the resource-producing region on the example of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra. The purpose of the research is to identify the relationship between the regional specificity and the direction of the evolution of economic institutions. The hypothesis of the study is that the regional specificity has an impact on the evolution of economic institutions and contributes to the formation of institutional traps. The framework methodology of the work is a comparative institutional analysis. As a result, the stages of the evolution of economic institutions are determined, their regional specificity and institutional traps are revealed. The scientific input is in the revealing of the specificity of institutional traps at the regional level as well as the influence of specificity on the evolution of economic institutions. The author came to the conclusion that the specificity of the region's economy affects the specificity of institutions as well as the formation of institutional traps. At the same time, some traps have a system-wide character and do not depend on the specificity of the region; this applies to the basic economic institutions. The most strongly the regional specificity is appeared in the evolution of the economic institutions for development, whose institutional traps are in many respects predetermined by the regional specificity. The results can be applied by the public administration at the regional level for the development and introduction of amendments to the legislation and further research. There is still the question of what comes first — the regional economic institutions or the economic development of the region, that is necessary to study both the co-evolution regional institutions and regional economics. Also, more research is needed to assess the impact of institutions on the level of transaction costs of economic entities.

The Rise of China and Power Transition Scenarios in East Asia

Power transition theory seems to imply that war between the United States and the rising China is inevitable. However, in this article it is explained that a peaceful power transition is possible. While there is uncertainty for China to successfully catch up with the United States, the future regional power transition scenarios suggest that the United States should make an effort to maintain power preponderance over China. To do that, the United States has to expand its new alliance partnerships and to efficiently manage its existing regional alliance system through its “pivot to Asia” policy. In that sense, the U.S. efforts to encourage Japan to become a “normal” state to share a larger military burden and to introduce the missile defense system in the region, including the THAAD system, to the Korean Peninsula would be helpful for the United States. In addition, inducing China to be less dissatisfied with the status quo is crucial for regional stability. The United States should encourage its allies and friends in the region to increase their economic interdependence with China and to participate actively in the China-led regional economic institutions such as the AIIB. While maintaining power preponderance, inducing China to be less dissatisfied with the status quo is one answer that the power transition theory provides for the United States to peacefully manage the era of the rising China in the region.

Regional Economic Institutions and Conflict Mitigation: Design, Implementation, and the Promise of Peace. By Yoram Haftel. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012. $75.00 cloth, $35.00 paper. - International Relations Theory and Regional Transformation. Edited by T. V. Paul. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. $103.00 cloth, $35.99 paper.

Regional Economic Institutions and Conflict Mitigation: Design, Implementation, and the Promise of Peace. By Yoram Haftel. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012. 35.99 paper. - Volume 12 Issue 4

Yoram Z. Haftel. Regional economic institutions and conflict mitigation: Design, implementation and the promise of peace (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press)

Yoram Z. Haftel. Regional economic institutions and conflict mitigation: Design, implementation and the promise of peace (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press)

Crafting Cooperation: Regional International Institutions in Comparative Perspectives

This book provides the comparative study of regional international organization in terms of institutional design and the nature of cooperation. The book highlights the similarities and differences in the efficacy across regional institution and relationship between institutional design and the nature of cooperation. The book starts with the central question, Why does it appear that different forms of institutions develop in different regions of the world, where States generally face similar kind of difficulties in cooperation? In this regard, the authors of the book found two puzzles, the first one being how to describe and explain any variation in the design of regional security and economic institutions across world.

Redefining the Chinese Revolution

In recent years, China scholars have often debated the meaning and definition of the Chinese Revolution. While some studies reveal discontinuity or radical and transformative change, others show continuity or gradual and evolutionary change. This article contributes to the debate by examining how the connective tissues in Guizhou’s regional economic institutions—the regional economic bureaucracy and regional state enterprises as well as enterprise organization, management, and incentive structures and mechanisms—emerged, grew, broke down, and were replaced over the period 1937 to 1957. Specifically, it focuses on the creation and expansion of Guizhou’s regional state enterprises, the transformation of enterprise authority structure, the transplantation of the Soviet economic accounting system, the appropriation of the Western accounting system, and the development of social service and welfare institutions. Drawing extensively on heretofore unavailable archival and published material, this study demonstrates that the changes in Guizhou’s regional economic institutions were both radical and transformative and gradual and evolutionary. In the process, Guizhou’s regional state enterprises came to be defined by bureaucratic enterprise governance, Chinese Communist Party control over enterprise employees, and distinctive enterprise management and incentive mechanisms.

Concentration and Spatial Distribution of Economic Entities under Innovative Development of the Region

The special issue on the Geography of Innovation and Economic Clusters: Evidence from Russia is held in order to provide insights on the theoretical elaboration and practical implementation of the cluster concept in the regions of the Russian Federation. Multidimensional nature of the phenomenon of economic clustering has led to the need for a transdisciplinary approach in studying the features of spatial distribution of regional economic entities and institutions of the region in the framework of knowledge economy. We therefore invite scholars to consider the development of the cluster concept by taking into account the impact of the neighboring areas of science, focused on in-depth study of each of the three key features of the cluster concept - interconnectedness, systemic properties, and spatial proximity. The eight articles of the special issue uncover the aspects of the innovation process in the regional context, the factor of international inter-cluster collaboration, the methods of cluster mapping and identification of the early indications to track the emergence of a cluster, as well as the case studies on the industry cauterization in various parts of the country.

Implemented Institutional Design and Conflict

This convincing examination of the effect of regional economic organizations (REOs) on conflict mitigation emphasizes an idea often overlooked: The heterogeneity of international organizations is important for understanding their effect. In Regional Economic Institutions and Conflict Mitigation, Yoram Haftel builds off two prominent debates: the effect of international institutions (e.g., Mearsheimer 1994/1995; Keohane and Martin 1995; Martin and Simmons 1998) and, more importantly, whether these bodies mitigate conflict (e.g., Russett, Oneal, and Davis 1998; Bearce and Omori 2005). Haftel advances the understanding of the dynamic relationship between international organizations and conflict by delving into the micro-foundations associated with the conflict-mitigating effect of REOs. His argument is grounded in the premise that the characteristics of REOs vary and, as a result, their effects on mitigating conflict will differ. By disaggregating the components of the institutions to understand their individual and combined effects, this excellent book persuasively adds nuance to these debates by moving beyond the question of whether or not institutions matter in mitigating conflict to assess the conditions under which they do.

China and the World Trade Organization

China’s rising economic clout in both regional and international economic institutions has caused considerable unease about whether Beijing might push for major reforms and restructuring within the World Trade Organization to serve its core economic interests. A growing strand of literature on ‘Rising China’ portrays Beijing as a potential challenge to the existing global economic order. Notwithstanding such predictions, compounded by relocation of powers in the global economic system in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, China appears unable to position itself as a challenger to the multilateral trading system and by extension to the extant economic order owing to a set of domestic constraints. This article attempts to critically examine the assertions of revisionist China in the WTO and its implications for the global economic order. The article seeks to develop two important explanatory models using domestic–political and ideational factors alongside the traditional focus on structural factors. These models would offer a nuanced understanding of how Chinese domestic politics and institutional ideologies play out in the domain of international institutional engagement.

Regional economic institutions and conflict mitigation: design, implementation, and the promise of peace

In addition to the explicit goal of advancing mutual economic interests, regional economic organizations (REOs) are intended to foster regional cohesion and peace. Drawing on a data set detailing the institutional features of 25 REOs established during the 1980s and 1990s, complemented by a case study of ASEAN, Yoram Z. Haftel investigates the factors that affect REOs' ability to mitigate interstate military conflict. He finds fewer interstate conflicts among REO members who have developed high levels of economic integration and who cultivate regular interaction among member-states' representatives. Haftel concludes that, with an appropriate institutional design and fully implemented agreements, an REO can indeed play a role in mitigating interstate conflict and make a meaningful contribution to regional peace.

Two Decades of Croatian Transition: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract Over the past two decades many Central and South East European countries underwent the process of transition from a centrally-planned towards a market economy. Among them, the case of Croatia stands out as particularly interesting. Owing to a number of reasons Croatia had the potential to be among the forerunners of transition. However, in realising this potential the country was constrained by numerous political and social turbulences which made its transition path somewhat unique. The objective of this paper is to explore to what extent the favourable initial conditions of Croatian transition have been exploited over the past two decades. The focus of the analysis is on four dimensions of transition: institutional reforms, macroeconomic performance, changes in economic structure and international trade. The general message yielded by the analysis is that much of Croatia’s initial advantage was lost over the past two decades because of war, the unfavourable political climate in the 1990s, late integration into regional, European and global economic institutions and the slow restructuring of enterprises.

Regional Institutional Development and Foreign Affiliate Performance

Drawing on the institutional-based view, this paper sheds light on the influence of the development of subnational institutions within a host country on foreign affiliate performance. Using 186,158 firm-year cases in 28 subnational regions of China, we find that the levels of the development of regional economic and social institutions have positive curvilinear impacts on the level of foreign affiliate performance and negative curvilinear influences on variation in that performance. However, the impacts of regional political institutions on foreign affiliate performance differ from those of regional economic and social institutions.