Canberra, Australia
Papers and proposals for sessions are invited for the APEBH 2012 conference. The main conference theme is ‘Economic Integration: Historical Perspectives from Europe and Asia-Pacific' but the organisers are open to proposals for contributions on other topics in economic, social, and business history, as well as to proposals for sessions on particular themes. Researchers across a broad range of disciplines are warmly welcomed. Early career researchers are encouraged to participate. The conference organisers are particularly interested in attracting papers that examine developments in countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region and papers that provide an international comparative perspective.
Economic integration is generally considered to be an aspect of the current process of globalisation. The European Union (EU) is often held up as a possible model for fostering the process of regional economic integration inAsia. However, the integration process inEuropesince the 1950s has been a formal process by which member states handed some authorities to the supranational EU. Throughout history, processes of economic integration occurred through both informal and formal processes. They occurred across regions within countries as transport facilities improved. They occurred across the borders of neighbouring countries as bilateral trade barriers were reduced, and in regions of the world due to multilateral initiatives. Formal agreements were not necessarily a prerequisite for economic integration. Private enterprises often took international business initiatives, despite the continued existence of barriers to international trade and investment. Formal processes of lowering such barriers followed. Where tariffs had been lowered, deepening integration by reducing non-tariff trade barriers remained an ongoing process. This happened in countries that became federations (e.g.USA,Germany,Australia,Malaysia), and countries that concluded bilateral (e.g. Australia-New Zealand), plurilateral (e.g. AFTA) and multilateral trade agreements.
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