Trade in Ideas and the Ideas of Trade Using Constructivist Political Economy to Explain the Spread of Economic Regionalism
Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Hicks, Barbara
Keywords
Trade Agreements, Political Economy, Constructivism
Area of Concentration
Economics
Abstract
The number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has expanded greatly since the early 1990s, inspiring a body of literature that attempts to explain the creation of these agreements through the use of a "thin" utility maximizing framework. However, even the most successful econometric studies of RTAs leave a significant residual of unexplained cases. This study develops a "thick" model of norm dynamics as an alternative to the traditional framework. Using existing econometric data, the effects of economic determinants were controlled for and a dataset of idiosyncratic cases was established. Two dyadic pairs were drawn to examine the constructivist micro-determinants of regionalism with each dyad consisting of a case of excessive and insufficient regionalism. In each case constructivist explanations were very useful in explaining the divergence in regionalism. Unfortunately, no unified typology of norm transmission could be drawn from the case studies, as a few different mechanisms seemed to be at work. To expl in the macrodynamics of regionalism, a qualitative constructivist model was built and compared to contemporary economic models. Although preliminary efforts were encouraging, it was very difficult to segregate the effects of economic and constructivist variables on a macro scale. Ultimately, norm-based explanations of RTA expansion seem to be very salient, despite difficulties at arriving at a universal typology.
Recommended Citation
Tubridy, Adam, "Trade in Ideas and the Ideas of Trade Using Constructivist Political Economy to Explain the Spread of Economic Regionalism" (2008). Theses & ETDs. 3886.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/3886
Rights
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