Developing Patterns of Cooperation in APEC: The Determinants of Searching Partners in CTI & HRDWG work programs
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Pan, Chih-Hung
Abstract
In the past, most of literatures’ research approaches, that depict the regional cooperation within the Asia-Pacific, can be divided into two different types, 「Region study」or 「Institution-building」view. These two types of approach seem to have similar conclusions that we can promote cooperation by building institutions, which can be a international regime or a international organization. Furthermore, the most statements were focused on the process of institution building, or explored on how do institutions affect the behavior of region and regime members? Unlike the analyzing approach used in most APEC-related literatures, we try to use state-based (or micro-based) view to re-examine the patterns of cooperation within APEC members, and figure out what determinants may affect members in searching for partners.
How to elaborate members’ cooperation? We will use the notion of「Coalition of the willing」. This notion was derived from when APEC tried to solve the 「consensus decision」problems, and furthermore, it reflects the meaning of 「flexible consensus」. In the implementation of various initiatives, each member can depend on their own situation and form in steering groups with their willingness. The member who really concern about these issue can implement first, other members may follow-up. We noticed that most APEC working groups created were related to these concepts. Therefore, if we want to discuss the practical situations of cooperation, 「work programs」will be the better reflection for the truly preference of the members in specific issue. Thus, we chose CTI & HRDWG as our major subjects.
The first reason of why we choose CTI & HRDWG work programs is that they had been implemented the most programs than other groups. Second, the issues they concerned about are connected with APEC’s three pillars. In brief, the major questions of this study is to explore that whether the different patterns of cooperation exist when members face these different topics, and figure out the determinants that could affect them.
We included all the CTI & HRDWG work programs from 1993 to 2009 that APEC posted at official online database, and we constructed our database to match the dyadic and panel form, which covered the cross-section and longitudinal data. The main purpose of this database is trying to clarify one problem, why they cooperate. In the empirical studies, we were not only applied the pooled logistic model, but Conditional fixed-effect logistic model to consider the unobserved differences, which mean unmeasured predictors of the dependent variable that would cause each dyad to have its own base rate.
Our major findings are as follows: (1) Developing members in Asia have begun to concern about trade and investment issues. (2) In the implementation of work programs, we found APEC actually led the members to cooperate. (3) We created Reputation, and Reciprocity as members’ behavior variables, and we found that they significantly affected members to cooperate in APEC, the special form of infinitely repeated games that didn’t exist any punishment or binding rule. (2) For APEC, FTA may have covered some issues of CTI & HRD, so FTA could promote programs cooperation more easily.
Subjects
APEC
work programs
Cooperation
Committee on Trade and Investment
Human Resource Development Working Group
Type
thesis
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