Hegemonic globalization

Fernando Broner, Alberto Martin, Josefin Meyer and Christoph Trebesch

Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Abstract: How does the global balance of power shape the world economy? We propose a theory of “hegemonic globalization” built on two premises: countries have heterogeneous policy preferences, and trade expands with policy alignment. Hegemons foster alignment, enabling globalization, while a shift to multipolarity risks fragmentation, at the expense of the declining hegemon and its allies. Empirically, we use international treaties as a proxy of alignment and construct the Global Treaty Database, covering 77,000 agreements from 1800–2020. The evidence supports the key elements of our theory: hegemons spur treaty-making, and treaties are a leading indicator of bilateral trade.

Keywords: Hegemon; globalization; trade integration; international coercion; international treaties; cooperation; multipolar world (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F02 F15 F50 F51 F55 F60 P45 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-06, Revised 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ifn, nep-int and nep-opm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Hegemonic Globalization (2025)
Working Paper: Hegemonic globalization (2025)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:upf:upfgen:1907

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