Showing papers on "Economic interdependence published in 1986"

Economic Interdependence and International Conflict: Some Cross-national Evidence

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between economic interdependence and international conflict. Two schools of thought exist on this issue: some prominent writers suggest that interdependence produces greater international conflict, while others suggest that it produces a decline in conflict. These arguments are reviewed and empirically tested here. Previous empirical studies bearing on this issue are found to use inadequate measures and biased samples. More comprehensive analyses presented here suggest that interdependence can have mixed consequences. Several measures of interdependence that embody its costly aspects are found to be positively associated with conflict, implying that interdependence produces increased international conflict. However, when these measures are controlled for, another key measure is found to be inversely related to conflict. This suggests that both schools of thought may be correct: while the costly aspects of interdependence seem to produce greater international conflict, its beneficial aspects appear to produce a decline in conflict. In recent years, international interdependence has emerged as an important phenomenon in world poiitics and a popular concept in the international relations literature. International issues as diverse as trade embargoes, environmental degradation, nuclear arms races, and the transmission of inflation have been grouped together under the rubric of interdependence. Early writers on interdependence, such as Cooper (1968), focused mainly on the problems it creates for domestic and foreign economic policymaking. More recently, a number of studies have appeared that examine the implications of interdependence for international politics. The most influential of these has been Keohane and Nye (1977). However, other than a few studies that examine whether interdependence is increasing or declining worldwide, I no broad, comparative analyses of the impact of interdependence on international politics

Economic policy in an interdependent world

Abstract: These eleven essays written over the past fifteen years continue and develop Richard Cooper's central theme of interdependence, reflecting his experience in government in the Council of Economic Advisers and as Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs. They focus in particular on the opportunities and constraints for national economic policy in an environment where goods, services, capital, and even labor are increasingly mobile. The first four chapters are informal, discursive treatments of economic and foreign policies in the face of growing interdependence among nations. The remaining chapters cover such specialist topics as optimal regional integration, the integration of world capital markets, the impact of greater interdependence on the effectiveness of domestic economic policy, the comparison of monetary and fiscal policy under fixed and flexible exchange rates, currency evaluation in developing countries, and the appropriate size and composition of a developing country's external debt. A concluding chapter surveys the preceding essays in terms of coordinating macroeconomic policymaking in an interdependent world economy. Richard N. Cooper is Maurits C. Boas Professor of International Economy at Harvard University.

A VAR Analysis of Economic Interdependence: Canada, the United States, and the Rest of the World

Abstract: The authors use vector autoregression (VAR) modelling techniques to examine the response of the domestic economy to foreign influences and to quantify some of the concepts and relationships relating to economic interdependence. Particular attention is given to the dynamic behaviour and interactions of the U.S. and Canadian economies over the past twenty years. Extensive empirical […]

The nature of Argentina's policy reforms during 1976-1981

Abstract: Much of the existing literature on Argentina has emphasized the liberal nature of the economic reforms introduced during 1972-81. A major purpose of this paper is to present evidence that contradicts this interpretation. In particular, it emphasizes the implementation of pervasive government controls and argues that the intensity and instability of these controls resulted in historically high, short run fluctuations of relative prices for commodities and factors.

Macroeconomic Policy Design in an Interdependent World Economy: An Analysis of Three Contingencies

Abstract: The paper uses a small analytical model of two regions, the United States and the Rest of the Industrial World, to analyze three topical issues concerning international economic interdependence and macroeconomic policy coordination. They are: (1) What should be the monetary and/or fiscal response in the Rest of the Industrial World to a tightening of United States fiscal policy and what should be the United States monetary response? (2) What should be the monetary and/or fiscal response in the United States and in the Rest of the Industrial World to a 'collapse of the United States dollar?' The paper highlights the importance of determining the causes of such a 'hard landing' for the United States dollar, as the appropriate policy responses are very sensitive to this; (3) What should be the macroeconomic policy response in the Industrial World to a disappointing real growth performance? Again the correct identification of the reason(s) for the disappointment is shown to be crucial. The final section discusses and qualifies the activist policy conclusions derived from the formal analysis.

Looking East, Looking West: The International Political Attitudes of Malaysia's Successor Generation, 1971–81

Abstract: There are many elements in analyses of why multinational cooperative organization efforts such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) succeed or fail. The outward manifestations of success include increased economic interdependence, larger numbers of economic, political, and security agreements, more frequent consultations among leaders, and more numerous instances of joint action in the international political and security domains. Observers and students of Southeast Asian politics may follow such events in the news media or in scholarly publications by other students.