Developmental Dimensions of Regionalism, Public Policies and Regional Gaps: Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

European integration was said to be facilitated by relatively high and close levels of GNP per capita of its member states (with exceptions, e.g., Italy, with its regional differences). Each phase of enlargement, however, complicated the situation. The EU initiated the Regional Policy in order to deliberately reduce the regional income disparities of its members and put in place pre-accession cooperation policy for candidate countries. The EU’s Regional Policy for 2007-2013 represents 36% of EU’s total budget, the second largest after the Common Agricultural Policy, and has three objectives: 1) convergence, 2) employment and competition, 3) territorial cooperation. Likewise, the MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela), widely seen as the most advanced regional institution after the EU, launched “MERCOSUR social” in 2001 and is equipped with Structural Convergence Funds. As with the EU, the question of income disparity between regions is a central issue. In regard to these regional policies, the political science literature on regionalism emphasises the role of power, particularly of the hegemonic country, which reflects realist traditions. However, recent studies on regionalism with constructivist tendencies view regionalism in more cognitive than materialist terms. For their part, studies on regionalism in economics highlight the risks that are inherent in asymmetries between regions, e.g. trade diversion (which in fine can lead to the collapse of the regional agreement), and the public policies that address regional gaps are also viewed as crucial. Yet the geographical or economic factors in themselves do not fully explain regionalism, nor do the concepts of hegemonic power or cognitive constructs. This panel seeks to broaden and deepen the debates on regionalism by closely examining region-building efforts around the world, in particular through the reduction of regional disparities.

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