What Is a Single Market?: An Application to the Case of ASEAN

Four regional trading agreements have now set a goal of a "single market". These are the EU, CARICOM, ASEAN, and CER agreements. However, in none of them is the goal well defined. This paper defines a single market in terms of the concepts of economic integration. An area is completely integrated if the Law of One Price holds for all commodity and factor markets. The paper examines the conditions which are necessary for the Law to hold. It then measures the progress towards this goal in seven regional trading agreements. It examines the steps ASEAN needs to take if it is to be a single market.