Transport Costs and Natural Integration in Mercosur

• 영문명: Transport Costs and Natural Integration in Mercosur
• 발행기관: 세종대학교 경제통합연구소
• 저자명: Azita Amjadi L. Alan Winters
• 간행물 정보: 『Journal of Economic Integration』제14권 제4호, 497~521쪽, 전체 25쪽
• 주제분류: 경제경영 > 경제학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 1999.12.31

영문 초록

The paper explores the argument that trade between the Mercosur countries should be stimulated by preferential policies because of their geographic proximity. That is, that the Mercosur countries are candidates for natural integration. The paper finds that, on average, transportation margins on trade within Mercosur and between Mercosur and Chile are about 6 percentage points lower than on trade with the rest of the world. That is a significant margin, and one that was reflected in the countries` trade patterns even before regional trade agreements reduced the policy-based barriers to mutual trade. But it is probably not large enough, in and of itself (without other benefits), to make the introduction of trade preferences desirable. The paper also explores the argument that absolutely high transportation costs between Mercosur and the rest of the world (that is, not relative to intra-Mercosur costs) justify regional trade preferences. For this to apply the introduction of trade preferences must cause the Mercosur countries to cease importing some goods from the rest of the world completely. While Mercosur---rest-of-the-world transport costs certainly are high, trade patterns suggest that very few goods will cease to be imported from the rest of the world. (JEL- Classifications: F15, R40)

목차

Ⅰ. Introduction

Ⅱ. Transport Costs in Models of Differentiated Products

Ⅲ. Homogeneous Goods

Ⅳ. The Scope for Transport Efficiency Gains

Ⅴ. Conclusion