Regional Market Integration in North America and Corporate Social Management

Abstract

Regional market integration is the extension of free trade among neighboring countries. Driven by powerful economic, ideological, and technological forces, it is rapidly transforming our economies. Borderless free market governance frameworks are replacing the old nation-state-centered Keynesian policies. The recent establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), soon to be extended to the entireWestern Hemisphere, exemplifies this process. The article shows the profound consequences it holds for the institutional environment of business and for the relations between business, government, and society. These developments have a direct impact on the field of business and society, suggesting the need for a more extensive consideration of geopolitical factors in its scholarship.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Axelrod, R. , & Keohane, R. (1985). Achieving cooperation under anarchy: Strategies and institutions. World Politics, 38, 226-254.

Brunelle, D., Bélanger, Y.,& Deblock, C. (1999). L’intégration économique continentale et ses effets sur les gouvernements infra-étatiques: de l’ALE à l’ALENA et au-delà[Continental economic integration and its consequences for sub-national governments]. Working Paper 99-2 (May), GRIC, Université du Québec à Montréal.

Brunelle, D., & Deblock, C. (1998). Les Etats-Unis et les enjeux de l’intégration économique dans les Amériques[The United States and the stakes of economic integration in the Americas]. Working Paper 98-7 (December), GRIC, Université du Québec à Montréal.

Deblock, C. , & Brunelle, D. (1998). Les Etats-Unis et le régionalisme économique dans les Amériques[The United States and economic regionalism in the Americas]. Revue Etudes internationales, 29(2), 313-344.

Doern, G. B. , & MacDonald, M. (1999). Free-trade federalism: Negotiating the Canadian Agreement on Internal Trade. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Goldstein, J. ,& Keohane, R. O. (Eds.) . (1993). Ideas and foreign policy: Beliefs, institutions and political change. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Government of Canada. (1999). La culture canadienne dans le contexte de la mondialisation [Canadian culture in the context of globalization-Ottawa]. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), 481-510.

Haas, E. (1992). Introduction: Epistemic communities and international policy coordination. International Organization, 46(1), 1-35.

10.

Hasenclever, A., Mayer, P. ,& Rittberger, V. (1997). Theories of international regimes. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

11.

Kébabdjian, G. 1999. Les théories de l’économie politique internationale[The theories of international political economy]. Paris: Seuil.

12.

Pasquero, J. (1992). An institutional approach to the recomposition of Europe. Business & Society, 31(1), 59-76.

13.

Regional market integration in the transatlantic area: Challenges and opportunities for government, business and society in the 21st century . (1998). Proceedings of the conference held at the GeorgeWashington University, School of Business and Public Management, Washington, DC.

14.

Réseau Québecois sur l’intégration régionale. (1995). La dimension sociale de l’intégration continentale[The social dimension of continental integration] and Déclaration du Réseau québecois sur l’intégration continentale[Declaration of the Reseau Quebecois on continental integration]. Montréal: Author.

15.

Waltz, K. N. (1990). Realist thought and neo-realist theory. Journal of International Affairs, 41(1), 21-37.

16.

Wood, D. J. ,& Pasquero, J. (1997). International business and society: Aresearch agenda for social issues in management. In B. Toyne & D. Nigh (Eds.) , International business: An emerging vision(pp. 139-159). Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.