UNU-CRIS is member of a Scientific Research Community on Globalisation, regionalism and socio-economic inequality funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) for the period 2006-2010. Project partners are the University of Antwerp (coordinator) and the universities of Leuven, Gent, UNU-MERIT and Lille.

Globalisation and social inequality have increased since the last decades of the 20th century. Accordingly, they have become a major subject of academic research, typically from different points of view in different disciplines. From a more intensive co-operation between researches of different disciplines, the scientific research group aims at a better and more comprehensive understanding of economic globalisation and social inequality and, through common research, at more adequate answer to the questions that globalisation and inequality raise. Regarding globalisation and inequality, regionalism and interregional co-operation are considered as a part of the problem as well as a part of the answer. On the one hand, regionalism is simply an alternative form of globalisation (like e.g. free trade agreements or custom unions). On the other hand is regionalism a way to control and regulate the effects of globalisation (like e.g. economic and political integration in Europe). Therefore is regionalism and interregional co-operation an essential aspect that must be included.

The main research topics of the scientific exchange and co-operation that is intended, reflect the two main parts of the problem definition.

• Patterns of globalisation and their consequences
  • The effects of trade liberalisation, foreign direct investments and labour migration, and knowledge flows on income or employment inequality of workers of different skill level, as well as on the position of the trade unions in which they are socially and economically organised.
  • The effects of internationalisation on inequality between countries or between regions within one country, on the convergence or divergence between countries or regions, taking account of the influence of governance and geographical economic specialisation.
  • The effects of internationalisation and international competition on fiscal and social competition between regions or countries.
• Responses to globalisation, normatively and analytically
  • At the national level, the social, economic or trade policies that would allow a welfare increasing or welfare maximising of globalisation.
  • At the interregional level, the usefulness of regional co-operation in fiscal and social policy and the forms this may take (explicit norms, treaties or policy co-ordination versus “paradigmatic” approaches, like best practices or policy guidelines).
  • At the global level, (re-)defining governance and the position of the existing social and economic international organisations (IMF; World Bank, ILO and WTO)

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