The Sequencing of Regional Integration

Recent years have seen a proliferation of preferential trading agreements, with certain nations signing a sequence of agreements over time. This latter fact raises the question as to what factors determine the sequence of trade agreements that a nation, or group of nations, enters into. Drawing upon both long-standing European experience and recent developments in East Asia, this paper identifies five potential explanations for the sequencing of regional integration. It will become clear that, despite its importance for national economic welfare and for the multilateral trading system, this is an under-researched topic worthy of greater attention from the scholarly community.