Research Articles

The Domestic Political Economy of Preferential Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director| Seungjoo Lee|

Trade Policy in the Asia-Pacific: The Role of Ideas, Interests, and Domestic Institutions, Springer, 2010
With respect to domestic politics, we show how subnational actors engage in lobbying, both of their own governments and through their links to others in the region.

Look West: The Evolution of U.S. Trade Policy Towards Asia

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director|

Rebalancing the Global Economy: A Primer for Policymaking, Center for European Policy Research,
Much of the debate over global imbalances has focussed on the demand side.

Evolving Trade Strategies in the Asia-Pacific

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director| Seungjoo Lee|

Trade Policy in the Asia-Pacific: The Role of Ideas, Interests, and Domestic Institutions, Springer, 2010
This chapter evaluates the trends we have seen in the Asia-Pacific, with an eye to explaining the dynamics of the formation of trade policies and negotiation of agreements, focusing primarily on bilateral FTAs pursued by countries.

Nationhood and Nation-building in South Asia

Nation-building and nationalism are dynamic forces in South Asia, even after six decades of independence and still influenced by the colonial legacy of political, economic and cultural strategies of the British Raj. The different countries of South Asia have had some similar experiences (such as the rural-urban divide) and some different ones (politics, new media). […]

Reluctance to Lead: U.S. Trade Policy in Flux

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director|

Business and Politics, 2009
The U.S. is no longer providing leadership in trade policy.

Responding to a Resurgent Russia

For the first time in a century, a set of large, populous and increasingly wealthy states—China, India and Russia—are on the cusp of achieving great-power status. These powers are entering an international system still governed by a “Western” conception of order and based on the primacy of post–World War II rules, drawn from liberal models […]

Evolution of East Asian Regionalism

This two-year project brought together a diverse group of scholars to examine the domestic politics of policies toward East Asian regionalism, focusing on the interplay of ideas, domestic politics, and institutions. The latest installment of this project was a one-day conference on the UC Berkeley campus on December 19, 2008. » View Conference Schedule Sponsored […]

The Future of Northeast Asia’s Institutional Architecture

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director| Min Gyo Koo| Seungjoo Lee|

Northeast Asia, 2008
The institutional architecture under the San Francisco system served Northeast Asia well for the Cold War period, obviating the need for any significant regional institutionalization of both economic and security affairs.

Have Long-Established Patterns of Protectionism Changed During this Crisis? A Sectoral Perspective

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director| Simon Evenett|

Broken Promises, 2008
During the current sharp global economic downturn much has been made of the scale of government policy responses, whether it be monetary policy (e.g. “quantitative easing”), fiscal policy (e.g. “stimulus packages”) or other forms of state intervention (including “bailouts”).

Economic and Security Institution Building in Northeast Asia: An Analytical Overview

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director| Min Gyo Koo|

Northeast Asia, 2008
In recent years, however, the traditional institutional order that has governed economic and security relations in Northeast Asia has come under heavy strain.

An Institutional Path: Community Building in Northeast Asia

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director| Min Gyo Koo|

The United States and Northeast Asia, 2008
In this chapter, we show how the traditional institutional equilibrium in Northeast Asia has come under heavy strain in the triple post period: namely the post‐Cold War, the post‐financial crisis of 1997‐98, and the post‐September 11, 2001 attacks, thereby undergoing a dramatic transformation.

The Dynamics of Trade Liberalization

|By Vinod Aggarwal – Director|

Power, Interdependence and Non-State Actors in World Politics, 2008
My objective in this chapter is to build in the tradition of this research program on trade cooperation and conflict.