Regional Cooperation, and the Role of International Organizations and Regional Integration
The authors examine regional cooperation among neighboring countries in the area of regional public goods. These public goods include water basins (such as lakes, rivers, and underground water), infrastructure (such as roads, railways, and dams), e...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/07/1976187/regional-cooperation-role-international-organizations-regional-integration http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19263 |
| Summary: | The authors examine regional cooperation
among neighboring countries in the area of regional public
goods. These public goods include water basins (such as
lakes, rivers, and underground water), infrastructure (such
as roads, railways, and dams), energy, and the environment.
Their analysis focuses on developing countries and the
potentially beneficial role that international organizations
and regional integration may play in bringing the relevant
countries to a cooperative equilibrium. A major problem in
reaching a cooperative solution is likely to be the lack of
trust. If neighboring countries do not trust each other
because of past problems, they may fail to reach a
cooperative solution as each tries to maximize its gain from
the regional public good. These strategies typically do not
account for spillover effects and ultimately leads to losses
for all parties. Other constraints on reaching a cooperative
solution are its complexity and the financial requirements.
Two types of institutions may help resolve some or all of
these problems. International organizations can help with
trust, expertise, and financing. The United Nations and the
World Bank have been involved in a number of such projects
in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere, and have been successful in
helping parties reach cooperative solutions. Regional
integration agreements, though not necessary for regional
cooperation, may also be helpful by embedding the
negotiations on regional cooperation in a broader
institutional framework. The authors examine these issues
with the support of both analysis and a number of case studies. |
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