Patterns Of Shocks And Regional Monetary Cooperation In South Asia

The member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation have set as a target the achievement of an economic union by 2020. Reaching this goal will require greater levels of monetary cooperation. How should this be achieved? Data from South Asia suggest that member states have minor trade linkages and face asymmetrical patterns of shocks. This paper concludes that, absent a clear road map for monetary cooperation, the present process must be structured so as to be harmonized with the level of regional economic integration.

This book provides fresh insights into the theory and policy of regional and multilateral trade from the perspective of developing countries. With the collapse of talks at the WTO Doha round, regionalism has proliferated in the form of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). This in turn has raised a number of critical issues in global trade policy debate. Given the implication of RTAs and WTO negotiations on economic development, the book emphasises that it is essential to examine the macro and micro effects of international trade flows on welfare, revenue, poverty and environment, particularly in the light of diversities, heterogeneities and limited financial capacity of developing countries. It discusses various issues of trade, investment, poverty, gender and legal dimensions in the regional and multilateral framework and is a useful guide to formulation of trade and economic policies for the benefit of developing countries. The book will be of primary interest to those in economics, commerce and management, and will be a useful reference for alternative research in this area.

Economic Integration in South Asia: Issues and Pathways is one of the volumes of the series titled, Imagine a New South Asia, presented by ActionAid International Asia. This volume envisions a new South Asia, free from human deprivation and poverty, where countries will become successful, proud and inclusive societies. This book demonstrates how South Asian countries can learn from the best practices in the region as well as from their failures, and also by trying to emulate the successful strategies of introducing egalitarian education and health systems of East Asia, China and Southeast Asian countries. Rich in analysis and research, this volume seeks an alternative people-centred perspective, and takes into account all those voices that have so long been unheard in policy-making processes through reviews of case studies. Not only will the findings of this volume be useful in conducting campaigns for appropriate policy and mindset changes, but these will also, eventually, make the emergence of a highly integrated South Asia truly possible.

This book examines the economic, political and institutional dimensions of pan-Asian integration. With little progress made in the Doha Round, there is heightened interest in deeper regional integration in Asia. The book explores regional patterns of trade and investment and the potential for deeper integration.

Surveys the growing literature on monetary cooperation in East Asia (EA) that goes beyond the Chiang Mai Initiative. It compares and contrasts the various proposals for cooperation such as the Williamson basket peg, the Asian monetary system, and the yen block as to their crisis prevention impact and their feasibility, both economic and political. Also reviews the evidence on the readiness of EA and some of its proper subsets for a currency union in the light of experiences elsewhere, especially of European monetary cooperation. Chapters: currency unions and the European Monetary Union; current exchange rate regime and monetary cooperation in EA; proposals for monetary and exchange rate cooperation in EA; and costs and benefits of a monetary union in EA.