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The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as a Public Good

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The Governance of European Public Goods

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Abstract

In 2016, ASEAN nations will embark on creating the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which has been called the ‘most ambitious economic cooperation programme in the developing world’. This chapter applies public goods theory to another regional grouping, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and uses it to examine the different speed of integration compared to the EU. It examines five factors that are impeding the progress of the AEC and then goes on to argue that for further integration to be achieved, ASEAN needs a change in procedural norms away from the ‘ASEAN Way’.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ASEAN Econ omic Community (AEC ) is one of three pillars of the broader ASEAN Community, announced in the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II, Bali, 7 October 2003. The other two pillars are: the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC).

  2. 2.

    The most notable of ASEAN conflicts was Konfrontasi (Confrontation), a coercive strategy adopted by Indonesia’s President Sukarno against the newly independent Malaysian state between 1963 and 1966. Other bilateral tensions which threatened to escalate into war during the 1960s existed between Malaysia and the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia, and Singapore and Indonesia.

  3. 3.

    ASEAN -6 refers to the original 5 members of ASEAN (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand) and Brunei Darussalam.

  4. 4.

    Article 1, Paragraph 5 of the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ) [not sure if this is in the biblio].

  5. 5.

    CLMV refers to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, countries who joined ASEAN at a later date and were less developed than the other 6 members.

  6. 6.

    Based on a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the AEC which incorporates assumptions on the complete elimination of tariffs and NTBs , the liberalization of five service sectors, AEC-induced changes in FDI, and a 5% reduction in trade costs.

  7. 7.

    “At a pace comfortable to all” is a favourite phrase in ASEAN documents, which means advancing as fast, or as slowly, as the most reluctant or least confident member allows’. (Severino 2006).

  8. 8.

    With the exception of Thailand, which was never colonized.

  9. 9.

    Data calculated by author. Based on information from WTO, Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal. Retrieved 2 March, 2016 from https://i-tip.wto.org/goods/Forms/MemberView.aspx?data=default.

  10. 10.

    Or the European Regional Development Fund, as it was known at that time.

  11. 11.

    To track progress towards the AEC 2015, a scorecard mechanism has been developed to monitor the implementation of measures listed in the AEC Blueprint.

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  1. Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney, Australia

    A. Han

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  1. Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

    Stefan Collignon

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Han, A. (2017). The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as a Public Good. In: Collignon, S. (eds) The Governance of European Public Goods. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64012-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64012-9_7

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