Is Economic Integration Between Developing Countries a Singular Process?

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Abstract This paper examines the economic integration processes among developing countries and developed nations. It looks into the possible existence of a general theory of economic integration and the reflection is carried out on three levels. The first is theoretical even normative, analyzing the concept of economic integration in various fields. The next is descriptive, which is based on the presentation of the initiatives (past and present) of economic integration. Finally, there is comparative where two main results are established. First is that the characteristics of the processes of economic integration are sufficiently flexible to reflect at the same time the processes of economic integration between developing countries and those between developed countries. Second is that economic integration is seen as a phenomenon with multiple dimensions and shapes and also as a process and the product of this process. JEL Classifications: F15, Y40, Y80