Cooperation and Competition in a Common Market: Studies on the Formation of Mercosur

ISBN-13: 9783790812800 / Angielski / Miękka / 2000 / 164 str.

Jaime Behar; J. Behar

Opis

This book analyses the economic implications of the most important regional integration agreement in Latin America, the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). Accordingly empirical evidence and theoretical arguments on the costs and benefits of MERCOSUR are provided and the effects of the elimination of custom barriers to intra-regional trade on trade patterns, product differentiation and cost efficiency are quantified. Other issues considered are the obstacles to policy coordination, in particular national divergences in income levels and growth rates. As an up-to-date and comprehensive study of trade flows and economic conditions within the MERCOSUR this book will be an essential reading for all those who wish to get behind the immediate arguments about the future of integration in South America and the prospects of further economic and monetary cooperation in that region.

Spis treści

Introduction.- Industrial Adjustement, Product Differentiation and Economies of Scale: Objectives and Provisions of the PICEAB.- Economic Integration and the Gains from Intra-Industry Trade.- Empirical Analysis.- Concluding Remarks.- Patterns of Intra-Industry Trade: Evolution of Intra-MERCOSUR Trade.- Measurement Problems.- The Extent of MERCOSUR Intra-Industry Trade.- Analysis by Product Group.- Vertical Differentiation versus Horizontal Differentiation.- The Impact of Regional Integration.- Conclusions.- Plant-Size Effects of Trade: Differences in Plant Size.- Factors Determining Production Scale.- The Rationale of the Variables Included in the Model.- Data Sources and Model Specification.- Empirical Issues and Regression Results.- Anaylsis of Results.- Concluding Remarks.- Cooperation and Competition. Industry Simulations of Trade Liberalization: Description of the Model and the Calibration Procedure.- Sources of Data and Exogenous Parameters.- Simulating Trade Liberalization.- Customs Union and Foreign Exchange Policy.- Concluding Remarks.- Economic Integration and Economic Divergence: Overall Trade Liberalization as a New Integration Framework.- Increased Economic Interdependence.- Disparities in Monetary Conditions and Stabilization Measures.- Divergences in Economic Performance.- Concluding Remarks.- Methodological Appendix.- Statistical Appendix.