Regional Integration Index Research Articles

Sustainable Silk roads future: Examining the nexus of inflation, regional integration, globalization and sustainability in BRI economies

This study investigates inflation's influence on sustainability by taking regional integration and globalization index as moderating variables. The inflation rate is an important indicator to measure economic performance and evaluate any country's sustainability goals. Globalization and regional integration are important due to connectedness among regions and countries. This study analyzed data collected from 64 Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) countries from 2005 to 2020 using the two-step system Generalized Method of Moments method and the robustness tests for the validation. The results suggested that the inflation rate negatively impacts sustainability. BRI countries need to control the inflation rate to attain sustainability goals. However, the robust impact of the globalization index on the relationship between the inflation rate and sustainability is positive and the moderating impact of regional integration is also significantly positive on the connection between the inflation rate and sustainability. The globalization index and regional integration index have a positive impact because the global world is connected, and every country designs economic policies based on global data that is available to them. Countries are investing to enhance local manufacturing and production capacities and economic teams make decisions accordingly. Inflation rates can be managed, and sustainability can be attained by taking benefit from the concepts of globalization index and sustainability. Due to these phenomena, countries import cheap raw materials, clean and renewable technologies, and cheap goods and services from other countries to manage the supply-demand and control the inflation rate, ultimately resulting in sustainability.

Direct and indirect influence of natural resources and regional integration on green growth: Exploring the role of political risk in South Asia

Within the context of sustainability, an integral focus of ongoing research is centred on cultivating economic expansion that prioritizes environmental friendliness and reduces resource dependence. This approach is commonly referred to as green economic growth. Hence, the present study strives to explore the heterogeneous effects of regional trade and economic integration, natural resource reliance, and political risk while also examining how regional integration index combined with natural resource factors influences the green growth trajectory of selected south Asian countries. The cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity of the countries have been examined. Stationarity properties are checked before proceeding to the long-run relationship and empirical estimation procedure. Method of Moments Quantile Regression is employed to understand the variables' asymmetric association. The outcomes revealed the positive influence of regional integration on green growth, while political risk and natural resources pose a negative impact. It can be observed that the negative consequences of natural resources are neutralized with higher trade and financial integration. Lastly, the causality test is used to investigate the causal association between the variables. The outcomes imply that Asian countries emphasize shaping natural resource extraction policies and stabilizing their political situation to get the maximum benefit from green growth.

Nigeria’s Contribution to Africa’s Regional Integration: Assessment of its recent Performance

This paper investigates the recent performance of Nigeria towards Africa’s regional integration as a major power in Africa. The main objective of the research is to determine the extent of Nigeria’s commitment to the realization of the African Union’s vision of becoming a fully integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa; and a dynamic force at the global level. Since her independence in 1960, Nigeria has been widely acknowledged as a leading power in Africa (The Giant of Africa) by several studies because of its preponderant political, economic and militarily power; influence; and benevolent contributions regarding to the liberation and progress of Africa. However, there are hardly substantive assessments of its recent performance towards Africa’s integration. The study adopts the Hegemonic Stability Theory; and descriptive analysis method to analyze data obtained from secondary sources. Analysis of the 2016 and 2019 Regional Integration Index (ARII) reports covering the period from 2010-2019 reveals that Nigeria has performed poorly towards the continent’s integration among its peers, both at the continental and sub-regional levels. The paper concludes that Nigeria’s poor performance would significantly slow the acceleration of Africa’s integration; and the country risks losing its leadership position in Africa to its rivals, especially South Africa. It recommends that the Nigerian government should take deliberate steps in formulating and implementing policies that would improve its performance across the five dimensions of the regional integration; and it should strengthen its commitment to consolidate its leadership position in Africa, and motivate smaller countries to contribute their best.

An Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI)

ABSTRACT This study improves the African Regional Integration Index (ARII) proposed by the African Union, the African Development Bank, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa by providing a theoretical framework and addressing shortcomings related to the weighting and aggregation of the indicator. This article measures monetary integration in the eight African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) by constructing an Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI). It proposes an optimal currency area as a theoretical framework and uses a panel approach to appreciate the dynamics of the index over different periods of time.

Institutional Quality, Foreign Direct Investment, and Regional Integration: Empirical Evidence From CEN-SAD

This study investigates the institutional quality effects on the foreign direct investment (FDI)–regional integration nexus in the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD). The novelty of our approach extends the regional integration theory in Africa by employing the Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII) and utilizes a dynamic panel data model based on the one-step system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) estimation to explore the institutional quality effects on the relationship between FDI location advantages and inflows and dimensions of regional integration. Our study highlights macroeconomic integration as the strongest indicator of regional integration as well as the most crucial determinant of FDI in CEN-SAD. We also discovered that FDI inflows into the lower-middle income countries (LMICs) were only slightly higher than in low-income countries (LICs). Our results infer that institutional reforms augment FDI location advantages and enhance FDI inflows irrespective of the level of integration in the Community.

Digital economy integration in Asia and the Pacific: Insights from DigiSRII 1.0

This paper presents the results from using the Digital and Sustainable Regional Integration Index version 1 (DigiSRII 1.0) framework of ESCAP (2020b) to uncover digital economy integration trends across the Asia-Pacific region. The results show that Asia and the Pacific has made good progress with regard to conventional digital economy integration, especially because of the significant improvements in the digital economy infrastructure and liberalization of trade of information and communications technology (ICT) goods. However, capacity-building of the workforce and investment in infrastructure are required to bridge the digitalization gaps among the digitalized economies in the region. Moreover, the fairly low regulatory uniformity among regional economies further highlights the importance of regional regulatory harmonization in order to foster regional trade in digitally enabled goods and services. From a sustainable development perspective, inclusivity and equity of access to digitalization and required infrastructure remain key challenges. While Internet penetration in the region has been rising, female participation in the digital economy has remained relatively low in general and extremely low in lowincome economies. In addition, there is room to enhance cybersecurity in most Asia-Pacific economies. Regional digital policies should focus on harmonizing data protection protocols and building a safer network of servers that would promote economic activity and enable sensitive matters to be conducted online. Fostering a more inclusive digital transformation may considerably boost network-effects and accelerate the transition to a competitive and sustainable regional digital economy.

The dynamic nexus of E-Government, and sustainable development: Moderating role of multi-dimensional regional integration index in Belt and Road partner countries

This research primarily aims to determine how e-government resource utilization influences sustainable development (SD) while considering the multi-dimensional regional integration index (MRII). The sample consists of year 2003–2018 for 64 Belt and Road countries. The study uses the untapped potential of MRII moderating role between the e-government, and the genuine savings index (GSI) for sustainable development. Further, governance composite (WGI), institutional quality (ICRG), government consumptions, macroeconomics conditions, information and communications technology (ICT) exports, population size and internet users are the other important factors that drive sustainable development. The study's findings are estimated through a two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) which validated through re-estimating alternate variables and D-K regression. Direct channel results of e-government level indicate a significant but negative impact on sustainable development as most countries in BRI are developing or under developing. While, with multi-dimensional regional integration, indirect channel e-government resources play a significant positive role in sustainable development path. Also, it is evident that in Covid-19 pandemic period, a better technological system and innovation at the institutional level of countries like China may combat Covid-19 effectively in a more robust manner. At the same time, regional integration at a multi-dimensional level further enhances sustainable development path for neighboring and regionally interconnected countries. Therefore, regional integration can help to an extent in combating post-Covid-19 pandemic effects with the help of robust e-government system implementation and to promote sustainable development. This study contributes to the e-government transformation in the multi-dimensional regional integration of BRI contexts, which boosts balanced environmental-friendly socio-economic growth.

Digital Economy, R&D Innovation and Regional Integration: A Study Based on Three Chinese Urban Agglomerations

Regional integration is a major national development strategy. Whether the rapid development of digital economy can promote R&D innovation and realize regional integration is worthy of further discussion. This paper examines the relationship between digital economy, R&D innovation and regional integration by taking three urban agglomerations in China from 2011 to 2018 as research samples. Referring to the existing research, this paper constructs regional integration index and digital economy index. The regional integration index is constructed from the perspectives of economy, science and technology and ecology. The entropy method is used to comprehensively measure the digital economic index at the urban level from the two levels of Internet development and digital inclusive financial development, and the relationship between them is empirically tested. The results show that both digital economy and R&D innovation help to improve the level of regional integration. R&D innovation plays a mediating role in the mechanism of digital economy influencing regional integration, and digital economy indirectly affects regional integration through R&D innovation. Further construct the spatial Durbin model to study the spatial spillover effect between digital economy and regional integration. It is found that digital economy has an obvious spatial spillover effect on regional integration. Specifically, the digital economy promotes regional integration in the region and inhibits regional integration in adjacent regions. Based on the research results, this paper puts forward the following policy suggestions: build and improve the digital economy system, increase the intensity of innovation, improve regional integration policies, and realize the development of regional integration.

Regional integration degree and its effect on a city’s green growth in the Yangtze River Delta: research based on a single-city regional integration index

In recent years, China’s economy has shown a trend of coordinated regional development. The integrated construction of urban agglomeration as a space carrier has placed the coordinated governance of the regional environment on the agenda. As such, we need to determine the effect of a city’s degree of regional integration on environmental regulation and green total factor productivity. To this end, a single-city regional integration index based on commodity retail price index is constructed to measure the degree of regional integration. Different from the traditional indexes that measure the integration degree of multiple economies, the proposed index aims to measure the integration degree of a single city into a region. This study also examines the effect of the city’ degree of regional integration on the relationship between environmental regulation and green total factor productivity using panel data on the Yangtze River Delta’s urban agglomeration from 2003 to 2016 for empirical analysis. The results reveal the existence of a positive U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and green total factor productivity, where the city’s degree of regional integration buffers this relationship. Differing from existed papers, this study provides an index to measure the degree of a single city’s integration into a region and identifies the buffer effect of this regional integration on the city’s green growth based on the urban agglomeration level.

An Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI)

This study improves the African Regional Integration Index (ARII) proposed by the African Union, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa by providing a theoretical framework and addressing shortcomings related to weighting and aggregation of the indicator. This paper measures monetary integration in the eight African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) by constructing an Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI). It proposes an Optimal Currency Area as theoretical framework and uses a panel approach to appreciate the dynamics of the index over different periods of time. The findings show that: (i) inflation and finance (trade and mobility) present the highest (lowest) score while ECOWAS is (EAC and IGAD are) the highest (least) performing. (ii) Surprisingly, in most RECs, the highest contributors to wealth creation are not the top performers in regional monetary integration. (iii) The RECs in Africa are characterized by a stable monetary integration which is different from the gradual process usually observed in monetary integration because with the exception of the EAC and UMA, the dynamics of IAMI show a steady trend in the overall index across time. Policy implications are discussed.

Carec Regional Integration Index

The CAREC Regional Integration index (CRII) maps the state of regional cooperation and integration on six socio-economic dimensions (with 26 constituent indicators) for each of the CAREC member countries and the region. CRII employs a panel-based data set for the construction of the index that includes data from the years 2006 to 2016. Two-stage Principal Component Analysis technique is employed to ascertain and apportion the weights for each of the indicators and dimensions for aggregation of a composite weighted index. PCA based Panel approach helps to gauge the dynamic behaviour of the drivers of regional cooperation and integration over the years, and track its evolution and assess the state of regional integration in each of the dimensions and overall index progress for policy analysis and targeted policy interventions. CRII exhibits a lower level of regional cooperation and integration (RCI) in the CAREC region. The low level of CRII is consistent with the Asia Pacific Regional Cooperation and Integration Index (ARCII) 2017 and 2018 editions’ findings.

Does Regional Integration Matter for Inclusive Growth? Evidence from the Multidimensional Regional Integration Index

This paper employs a multidimensional approach to gauge the degree of regional integration and analyze impact on growth, inequality, and poverty. It constructs a multidimensional regional integration index (MDRII) series that embodies six key facets of regional integration: (i) trade and investment, (ii) money and finance, (iii) regional value chains, (iv) infrastructure and connectivity, (v) movement of people, and (vi) institutional and social integration. The MDRII confirms that regional integration is most advanced in the European Union which scores high in all six dimensions; Asia comes second with the largest contribution from infrastructure and connectivity. Empirical analysis suggests significant and positive development impact of regional integration even when trade and financial openness is controlled. The regional value chain, movement of people, and institutional and social integration dimensions have been significant drivers of economic growth. Infrastructure and connectivity improve income distribution. Overall integration alongside the dimensions of trade and investment, money and finance, and institutional and social integration appear to significantly and robustly reduce poverty.

Asia-Pacific regional integration index: Construction, interpretation, and comparison

We develop a composite index to measure the degree of regional integration in Asia. The index comprises 26 indicators in six dimensions of regional integration, namely, trade and investment, money and finance, regional value chains, infrastructure and connectivity, free movement of people, and institutional and social integration. We use principal component analysis to apportion a weight to each indicator to construct dimensional sub-indexes, then follow the same procedure to weight the sub-indexes to construct the overall index. Asia is shown to be relatively well integrated along dimensions of trade and investment and the free movement of people, not so well integrated along the institutional and social dimension. Overall, Asia is somewhat more integrated than South America and Africa, but much less integrated than the European Union.

An Exploration of an Integration Index and Its Application for Asian Regional Community

The purpose of this research is to develop a regional integration index and apply the index to East Asia, as well as other major regional communities, such as ASEAN, EU, MERCOSUR, and NAFTA. The regional integration index was constructed to measure the degree of integration in terms of four criteria: functional integration, political/security integration, social and cultural integration, and institutional integration. In the case of East Asia, the region scored low in 1994 at the inception of regional integration, in terms of indices for political/security and institutional integration, mainly due to the lack of political leadership. However, the functional integration index was higher than in other regions at the initial stage, despite the absence of an economic union. During the development stage of integration of East Asia in 2000, the regional integration index increased. In 2007, the overall score increased as well, but the functional integration index actually decreased due to the reduction of intra-regional FDI. Noticeable increase in the socio-cultural index was observed in the region as East Asia was swept by the spreading popularity of Korean pop culture known as Hallyu, or the Korean wave. Currently, the integrative factors in the socio-cultural arena in East Asia is lower than those of EU and NAFTA, but almost the same as those of ASEAN and MERCOSUR. The political and security factor is much lower than those of EU and MERCOSUR, and even lower than those of ASEAN and NAFTA. Following policy recommendation from Kim and Park(2004), the following implications for the East Asian integration can be suggested. First, East Asian countries need to make efforts to attain qualifications as an area with greater economic integration. To this end, economic cooperation needs to increase in terms of trade, and institutionbuilding for exchange rate stability must commence. Second, it would be vital to make an advanced blueprint for regional cooperation and integration in East Asia. Third, East Asian countries need greater exposure to opportunities for binding negotiations on regional issues, and accumulate sufficient experience in resolving the issues. Fourth, a variety of policies are required so that potential 'losers' in regional integration would be encouraged to continue their engagement in the process. Finally, it is strongly recommended that a kind of core group be formed so as not to lose the driving force for integration. Case in point, Germany and France have kept a key bilateral relation as a linchpin over the course of the entire European integration process. In East Asia, Japan and China are expected to play such a role, but if the two countries are not suited for the role or up to the challenge, Korea is strongly recommended to initiate the necessary multilateral relation.

The Regional Integration Index in Africa

L’IIRA : un indicateur d’integration tout a fait original. En unissant leurs efforts, l’Union africaine, la Banque africaine de developpement et la Commission economique pour l’Afrique ont produit un indicateur d’integration tout a fait original, l’Indice de l’integration regionale en Afrique (IIRA) qui va nous permettre d’avoir une vision beaucoup plus juste non seulement du degre d’integration des differentes communautes economiques regionales (CER) africaines, mais egalement des efforts de...

Intra-African Trade, Digital Technologies and Canada's Foreign Policy Choices

This paper examines the impact of recent advances in digital technologies on intra-African trade, while paying attention to the informal economy and services trade, in addition to other important issues like trade-related infrastructure, trade policies and the macroeconomic environment. We advance a framework comprising Aid for Trade (AfT), Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII), Financial Inclusion, and the Boosting Intra-Africa Trade (BIAT) initiative, among others, to assess the implications of the growing link between financial technology (FinTech) services penetration and intra-regional trade for Africa’s informal sector and financial disintermediation. Our analysis shows that in order to foster increased use of digital finance in Africa, we must pay attention to the varying levels of digital technology adoption by users – particularly women, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). We offer possible interpretations of the results, while highlighting useful lessons for Africa-specific trade programming and Canadian foreign policy.

Asia-Pacific Regional Integration Index: Construction, Interpretation, and Comparison

We develop an index to measure the degree of regional integration in Asia and the Pacific (48 economies in six subregions). The index comprises 26 indicators in six dimensions of regional integration, i.e., trade and investment, money and finance, regional value chains, infrastructure and connectivity, free movement of people, and institutional and social integration. We use principal component analysis to apportion a weight to each dimension and indicator to construct composite indexes. The resulting indexes help assess the state of regional integration on diverse socioeconomic dimensions, evaluate progress against goals, identify strengths and weaknesses, and track progress. Cross-country, cross-regional comparisons also allow policy makers to prioritize areas for further efforts.