Regional Economic Integration Essay

Discuss the determinants of regional economic and political integration.

The factors that directly affect the outcome of regional economic and political integration are accomplished through a common culture, a shared history, regional proximity, and a similar level of economic development. A common culture is achieved when countries that are in close proximately of one another share the same language, as stated by the textbook, “in North Africa and the middle East, the preponderant language is Arabic, and the environment of business, as well as everyday life, is structured in accordance with Islamic law,” this statement leads to another factor that is involved with common culture and that is common religion. Furthermore, common culture consists

When a country dominates a region, its culture and language become a part of that region, as well as its influence on economics, marketing structure, and political ties. Unlike common culture and shared history, regional proximity does not deal with the similarities between cultures, but rather the proximity of these countries that will ultimately facilitate cooperation. Even though a common border is not needed to engage in agreements, however, a common border does increase the probability of the country’s economic relationships to survive. The last determinants of regional economic and political integration is a similar level of economic development, it is the ultimate determination that countries in proximity to each other will successfully integrate. What makes a similar level of economic development so important is, it is characterized by, “a highly developed industrial base and overall productivity, translating into high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita; an extensive transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, which is indispensable in trading relationships; and prosperous

Furthermore, even though a common market is different from free trading, these two have the same characteristics. A common market also has the characteristic of customs unions, where each member that is involved in a free trade association agrees on common external tariffs rates for outside imported goods. However, the major difference between the two levels of integration is in a common market approach members of that market have the ability to move capital and labor freely through the