The Research Group on Economic Integration, INTECO, was officially created after the grant of an aid for research groups awarded by the Science and Technology Office of the Valencian government (GR01-167) in 2001; two years later, INTECO received the consideration of Group of Excellence in the 2003 call. This consideration was renewed in the 2009 call (PROMETEO 2009/098). However, the research group was already registered in the Technology Transfer Offices of the Universities to which most of its members belong. Thus, the Castellón research group has the code 115ECON in the OCIT of the Universitat Jaume I under the title "Economic Integration" and the Valencia group has the code UV-0736 in the OTRI of the Universitat de València in the research line "Economic Integration".

• Research line 1: Trade implications of globalisation and regional integration processes.

The objective of this research line is to determine the effect of continental and intercontinental integration agreements on trade. The analysis is carried out both globally and for each continent in particular, with the aim of detecting specific features for economic and geographical reasons that may condition the effects of the agreements on trade. Specifically, one objective of this line is to identify the impact that institutional, cultural and political aspects may have on international trade. Aspects such as armed conflicts, ethnic differences, the degree of democracy, religion, civil liberties, political rights and development aid, among others, are the subject of detailed treatment.

• Research line 2: Implications of globalisation and regional integration processes for economic policy.

The recent wave of financial globalisation has led to an increase in countries' holdings of foreign assets and liabilities, and their asset portfolios can therefore be seriously affected by changes in asset prices, opening the possibility of large cross-country wealth transfers that alter the dynamics of foreign asset balances. However, these valuation effects have not been considered either in theory or in official statistics until very recently. In this line of research we propose to examine the long-term sustainability of current account deficits for a set of OECD countries using two channels: one representative of classical intertemporal models (trade adjustment channel) and another, central to the unified approach of Gourinchas and Rey (2007) "International financial adjustment", Journal of Political Economy 115, which adds a complementary channel to the previous one, through changes in asset valuation (financial adjustment channel). From an econometric point of view, it is proposed to combine several novel methodologies that solve problems of regime shifts and cross-section dependence that appeared in previous works, as well as adding improvements in the database and in the conceivable or bounded nature of the variables themselves.

• Research line 3: Relations between economic integration and Environment

This research line, which joined the INTECO group in 2008, aims to analyse the interrelationship between environment and economic integration by answering several questions. Firstly, whether the spatial relocation of economic activity resulting from greater integration, trade liberalisation and foreign direct investment poses a threat to environmental quality. Secondly, whether economic growth resulting from economic integration leads to a more sustainable path in the use of environmental resources.

Collaborators

• Aurelia Bengochea Morancho - Universitat Jaume I de Castelló
• Laura Márquez Ramos - Universitat Jaume I de Castelló
• Javier Ordóñez Monfort - Universitat Jaume I de Castelló
• Emili Tortosa Ausina - Universitat Jaume I de Castelló

Regulation of and contribution to more efficient operation of businesses