http://www.networkideas.org/feathm/may2004/survey_paper_RTA.pdf

On the one side; production, exchange and consumption are escaping the regulation of the state, due to the new multinational nature of business, but on the other side regionalism is important for the creation of rules for transactions involving capital, services, technology, and people.

Do regional trade agreements constitute a part of multilateral trade arrangements ?

When we look from the macro perspective, we find competing ideological slants vying for support. I'm more keen to examine the effects of all these trade flows at the ground level where, not surprisingly, are often outside the national and international policymaking horizons. The empirical data are always inadequate to gauge the impacts of international trading regimes on the people in developed and the developing regions. National income accounting figures are inadequate and do not mirror the reality at the micro level.

Dear Colince, I think it is useful to look at the discussion from both a global and particular (country-level) perspective. Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) have contributed to advance the international trade growth agenda because of WTO´s Doha Round negotiations freezing (recall the GATT´s "enabling clause" that authorizes countries to negotiate RTAs). However, RTAs have also created a "spaghetti bowl" with hundreds of different rules which in many cases impede freer trade or make it more costly for non-RTA or even RTA partners. Notwithstanding, RTAs have been very important to advance so called “behind the border” issues like trade in services liberalization, foreign investors protection, labor and environmental standards, and competition and public procurement policies. In many developing countries (Latin American for instance), RTAs have been the driver of internal (national) reforms in those key areas, that might have been slower (or not possible) in absence of a trade agreement. On the other hand, we can not ignore that RTAs have also helped some interest groups to keep their industries protected from foreign competition. Political economy issues are always present and should be analyzed. At the end, it is important to keep in perspective that free trade is a definitive driver for growth, specially for small economies. To take advantage of trade, national policies that create the necessary conditions to integrate with world markets should be a central point of discussion. Productive development policies (infrastructure, technology, education, among others) implementation at the national level are crucial to enhance productivity and create new development opportunities. From an RTA point of view, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement offers an advanced approach on these issues, that might be important to take into account for for your research. Hope this comments might be of help. Best regards.