Evaluating economic integration in ASEAN: perspectives from a cluster analysis

This paper uses hierarchical cluster analysis to examine the degree of economic integration among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Japan, China and the Republic of Korea during three time periods: 1969-1984, 1985-1994 and 1995-2009. The results indicate that the five founding members of ASEAN, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, have become less integrated over time. Moreover, the region as a whole does not appear to have attained the degree of integration that was hoped for at the time the Association was established 30 years ago.