In recent decades, globalization and regionalization or regional integration have become the two most important and yet rather distinct phenomena catching the attention of scholars all over the world. Across different epistemological landscapes, these phenomena are indispensible in tracing, assessing and explaining processes of interaction between multifactors. In addition, governance has appeared as a recurring theme for investigating the numerous tracks, institutional backgrounds and outcomes of political and economic decision-making on the local, national and transnational levels. This research area sets out to shed light on those processes, motivations as well as their outcomes and impacts. Multifaceted methodological designs and intensive empirical field work yield expertise and research of highly practical relevance.
Within this research area, a range of studies focus on global and regional economic integration including trade, FDI and foreign debt. Others look for the institutional preconditions of integration and on its effects on growth and development. Related themes cover the law-making and institution-shaping role of international organizations and regimes. Those studies furthermore reflect on the interrelation of national strategies and trajectories of growth and development on the one side and international frameworks and multilateral or regional regulations on the other. A broad variety of work inside this research area furthermore focuses on the effects of ongoing shifts in international power asymmetries and monitors the new role of and initiatives taken by emerging economies like the BRICS countries in the field of international development cooperation.
The following projects exemplarily show the spectrum of topics covered by this research area: