| While the issue of regional integration has become a popular topic, very few scholars have examined the relationship between regional integration and foreign direct investment inflows in the developing world, and even fewer scholars have provided a clear systematic analysis to support their claims. Debate remains on the direction of the causal relationship between foreign direct investment inflows and regional integration. My dissertation evaluates the way in which foreign direct investment affects regional integration. Specifically, I examine factors causing regionalism in the developing world, analyzing regional integration in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America. I argue that foreign direct investment inflows to emerging markets allow these states to integrate at a faster pace and to adopt a greater degree of integration. All countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America, which have complete data available, are included in the dissertation empirical analysis. The potential for an endogeneity problem necessitates controlling for the following variables: gross domestic product per capita (GDP), trade openness, literacy rates, and the level of democracy in each state. |
