Seminar on “Untapped regional integration potential: A global frontier analysis”
The Department of Development and Sustainability has a special seminar on a topic titled “Untapped regional integration potential: A global frontier analysis” by Dr. Dominik Naeher
Date: 19 February 2020, 13:00 – 14:30 hrs.
Venue: Room E220, SERD Building
Dr.Dominik Naeher is an Assistant Professor of Economics at University College Dublin in Ireland. His research focuses on technology adoption in the development context, regional economic integration, and the economics of information. Dominik obtained his PhD from the Graduate School of Economics, Finance, and Management at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, and has worked as a consultant for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. He currently divides his time between Europe and Asia, where he lecturers at different universities in China, Korea, and Ireland.
The presented paper proposes a novel approach to estimate untapped regional integration potential across geographical subregions of the world. We first construct an empirical production possibility frontier for regional integration outcomes based on two composite indices capturing enabling factors and achieved levels of regional integration outcomes across various domains. We then use non-parametric frontier analysis to rate the performance of subregions in terms of integration relative to their estimated potential. The obtained efficiency scores allow us to quantify and compare the empirical magnitudes of untapped integration potential across individual subregions. Our results suggest that, globally, average subregional integration levels are currently at 60 percent of the estimated potential. Furthermore, there is large variation in integration outcomes, and subregions with large untapped integration potential are spread across all parts of the world. We also demonstrate how the proposed method can be used to guide policy decisions about interventions aimed at fostering regional integration.
