Latin American integration effects on trade relationships: survival, growth and initial volume

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the effects of economic integration agreements on trade survival, initial volumes of trade, and export growth. We focus on annual trade data at the 5-digit SITC level for Latin America exports to over 150 countries from 1962 to 2009 and examine whether these effects differ depending on the required depth of the agreement. We also test whether the quality of trade agreements has an impact on the survival of trade relationships. Results indicate that the effects of trade agreements in Latin America differ from those found in previous studies; that those effects are also different depending on the trade agreements depth, and that higher quality agreements lead to higher increases in the survival rate of trade relationships.