International Economic Integration and Human Development: Informing the Debate in Favour or Against Formal Integration and Migration

Abstract

Recently, some leaders in different countries have promoted positions towards immigration and formal international economic integration that contest policy recommendations resting on predominant microeconomic and international economics theories. The cases of Brexit, the new presidency in the United States of America, and election processes in countries such as Germany and France have put forward topics showing distrust or, at least, great disappointment in free markets and open economies. Inequality in income distribution and social exclusion in developing and developed countries have triggered a protectionist discourse of some political or independent leaders seeking to gain political power. All this might represent a significant challenge for higher education institutions offering courses and doing research based on the principles of mainstream economics. Considering the previous context, using panel data for the period from 1985 to 2014, this paper analyses the impact of the degree of formal integration and migration on human development in 26 countries located in three continents and that are part of international integration instruments such as the World Trade Organisation, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the European Union. The analysis sheds light on what makes a difference in terms of human development and to what extent, contributing to inform the debate on the impact of countries’ openness to international flows of goods, services and labour.