International integration: a model for regional integration in developing areas

Abstract

Despite the attempts of many scholars in the social sciences, no one has yet developed an adequate theoretical model for describing, explaining, or predicting integration efforts in less developed areas. Jacob Viner, the first economist to attempt to measure the value of customs unions, failed to adequately consider the dynamic effects of integration in reaching a pessimistic conclusion as to the potential benefits of integration for developing countries. It was left to Bela Balassa to develop the theory of economic development by import substitution that has been used by leaders of developing countries to justify economic integration to maximize the potential for import substitution. However, the economic theory of integration fails to consider the crucial social and political processes that are of such importance in the integration process. Political science theories also have their major faults. Deutsch's sociocausal paradigm contains large theoretical gaps between crucial variables as well as being Western orientated. The neo-functionalist model also fails to be of use in developing areas because of its emphasis on variables found principally in developed areas. It is to fill this gap in our knowledge of integration that this author develops a model of integration for all areas by using Joseph S. Nye's revised neo-functionalist model as a core and the East African Common Market and the Central American Common Market as case studies. Finally, an empirical test to study the impact of integration on instability in Central America is explicated to show the value of our integration model in bettering our understanding of integration in developing areas.