Abstract

Globalization without regionalization. Why Latin American and African countries hardly trade with their neighbours?
The present contribution explores the long twentieth-century globalization process from a trade perspective, addressing the question why increasing international trade in the economically advancing regions (Europe, North America, East Asia) was, to a large extent, driven by trade within the region, whereas most Latin American and African countries failed to develop a strong integration of commodity markets in the region. The paper discusses three theoretical conjectures to explain this phenomenon and examines the possible advantages of regionalization for long run economic growth. The main argument of the paper is that, from a trade perspective at least, the process of globalization is often confused with a process of regionalization.