A Free Trade Area: Implications for ASEAN

Presently, ASEAN stands ready to make a major step towards economic integration. This book looks at the issues involved in moving ASEAN towards a free trade area. It examines some indicators of gains and costs of integration and presents two quantitative analyses of the potential effects of integration on growth and trade in the region. The first, a partial equilibrium analysis, provides a disaggregated view of changes in production and trade patterns that could occur with integration. The second, a macroeconometric analysis, is able to capture general equilibrium effects and identifies the effects of integration on overall economic growth. These two analyses represent the first systematic, quantitative studies of intra-ASEAN trade.