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

by Jaime Behar

Overview

The essays included in this book are the result ofseven years ofresearch spanning the 1990-1997 period. Most of them have been published in scientific magazines or as chapters of books. To the end of this edition, and in order to avoid repetitions, the original texts have been modified, particularly with regard to the titles and introductions of the chapters. Chapter two reproduces the article "Economic Integration and Intra-Industry Trade: The Case of the Argentine-Brazilian Free Trade Agreement", published in the Journal of Common Markets (vol XXIX, No 5, pp. 527-552, sept. 1991). Chapter three originates from an empirical study prepared for UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. The analytical framework and the preliminary conclusions of that work appeared in a working paper "The MERCOSUR Pattern of Intra-Industry Trade" (RP No 75, Skholm: LAIS, 1997). Chapter four was published with the title "Plant-size Effects ofTrade: The Case of MERCOSUR Countries" as a chapter of the book Growth Trade and Integration in Latin America (W. Karlsson and A. Malaki (eds. ), Skholm: LAIS, pp. 297-319, 1996). Chapter five in tum corresponds to the article entitled "Measuring the Effects of Economic Integration for the Southern Cone Countries: Industry Simulations of Trade Liberalization" as published in The Developing Economies (Vol. XXXIII, No 1, pp. 1-31, mars 1995). Finally, chapter six is the revised and updated version of the paper presented at the First European Congress ofLatinamericanists, which took place at Salamanca, Spain in June 1996.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783790812800
Publisher:	Physica-Verlag HD
Publication date:	04/26/2000
Series:	Contributions to Economics
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2000
Pages:	164
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.36(d)

Table of Contents

1 Introduction.- 2 Industrial Adjustment, Product Differentiation and Economies of Scale.- 2.1 Objectives and Provisions of the PICEAB.- 2.2 Economic Integration and the Gains from Intra-Industry Trade.- 2.3 Empirical Analysis.- 2.4 Concluding Remarks.- 3 Patterns of Intra-Industry Trade.- 3.1 Evolution of Intra-MERCOSUR Trade.- 3.2 Measurement Problems.- 3.3 The Extent of MERCOSUR Intra-Industry Trade.- 3.4 Analysis by Product Group.- 3.5 Vertical Differentiation versus Horizontal Differentiation.- 3.6 The Impact of Regional Integration.- 3.7 Conclusions.- 4 Plant-Size Effects of Trade.- 4.1 Differences in Plant Size.- 4.2 Factors Determining Production Scale.- 4.3 The Rationale of the Variables Included in the Model.- 4.4 Data Sources and Model Specification.- 4.5 Empirical Issues and Regression Results.- 4.6 Analysis of Results.- 4.7 Concluding Remarks.- 5 Cooperation and Competition Industry Simulations of Trade Liberalization.- 5.1 Description of the Model and the Calibration Procedure.- 5.2 Sources of Data and Exogenous Parameters.- 5.3 Simulating Trade Liberalization.- 5.4 Customs Union and Foreign Exchange Policy.- 5.5 Concluding Remarks.- 6 Economic Integration and Economic Divergence.- 6.1 Overall Trade Liberalization as a New Integration Framework.- 6.2 Increased Economic Interdependence.- 6.3 Disparities in Monetary Conditions and Stabilization Measures.- 6.4 Divergences in Economic Performance.- 6.5. Concluding Remarks.- Methodological Appendix.- Statistical Appendix.- References.