European Integration at the Crossroads: A Review Essay on the 50th Anniversary of Bela Balassa's Theory of Economic Integration

Andre Sapir

Journal of Economic Literature, 2011, vol. 49, issue 4, 1200-1229

Abstract: Bela Balassa's Theory of Economic Integration, published fifty years ago, is a remarkable, yet little known book. This essay reviews developments in the economic literature and in the process of European integration since the book's publication, showing that it was incredibly prescient. It anticipated by more than twenty years the modern literature on economic integration that emphasizes scale economies, imperfect competition, and economic geography. It also predicted that monetary union cannot function properly without political unification, a condition well illustrated by the recent euro-debt crisis that is likely to be a watershed in the history of European integration. (JEL B31, F15, F36, G01)

JEL-codes: B31 F15 F36 G01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jel.49.4.1200
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (40)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jel.49.4.1200 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: European Integration at the Crossroads: A Review Essay on the 50 th Anniversary of Bela Balassa’s Theory of Economic Integration (2011)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aea:jeclit:v:49:y:2011:i:4:p:1200-1229

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/subscriptions

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Literature is currently edited by Steven Durlauf

More articles in Journal of Economic Literature from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().