Do deep regional trade agreements facilitate regional production networks in Latin American and Caribbean countries?

Do deep regional trade agreements facilitate regional production networks in Latin American and Caribbean countries? | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Do deep regional trade agreements facilitate regional production networks in Latin American and Caribbean countries? Yoshimichi Murakami This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3756398/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 18 Feb, 2025 Read the published version in Review of World Economics → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Using a structural gravity model, this study analyzes the causal effects of the depth of regional trade agreements (RTAs) measured by the coverage and legal enforceability of WTO-plus and WTO-extra policy areas on the production networks trade in all 33 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries from 1990 to 2016. The study constructs a unique dataset on the indexes of the depth, breadth, and core depth of all RTAs in force that include at least two LAC countries, based on a World Bank database on RTAs’ contents. Results indicate that both the depth and breadth of RTAs have positive effects on the intra-regional parts and components exports in the LAC region. However, the effects are substantially heterogeneous by the type of agreements and the characteristics of country-pairs. The depth of custom unions among Latin American countries, mainly the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), has positive effects, whereas the depth and breadth of plurilateral free trade agreements with developed countries outside the region (e.g., the United States or European countries) have negative effects. These findings are robust to the use of the mirror import data, the use of three-year interval data, and the inclusion of future values that control for reverse causality. economic integration trade agreements intermediate goods Latin America Caribbean gravity model Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 18 Feb, 2025 Read the published version in Review of World Economics → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revisions needed 19 Apr, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Jan, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Dec, 2023 Editor assigned by journal 16 Dec, 2023 First submitted to journal 14 Dec, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3756398","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":260488300,"identity":"5672aacb-81cc-4e47-bf4a-df98bab87c47","order_by":0,"name":"Yoshimichi Murakami","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8385-2871","institution":"Kobe Daigaku","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yoshimichi","middleName":"","lastName":"Murakami","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-12-15 03:37:57","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3756398/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3756398/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-024-00579-9","type":"published","date":"2025-02-18T15:57:37+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":77054063,"identity":"25cbec30-474d-4e33-8838-86518b9be351","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-24 16:31:05","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":466345,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptfile.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3756398/v1_covered_10db65ff-4dbc-4592-98fc-e6f01fab78ba.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Do deep regional trade agreements facilitate regional production networks in Latin American and Caribbean countries?","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"review-of-world-economics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"rowe","sideBox":"Learn more about [Review of World Economics](http://link.springer.com/journal/10290)","snPcode":"10290","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/rowe/default2.aspx","title":"Review of World Economics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"economic integration, trade agreements, intermediate goods, Latin America, Caribbean, gravity model","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3756398/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3756398/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eUsing a structural gravity model, this study analyzes the causal effects of the depth of regional trade agreements (RTAs) measured by the coverage and legal enforceability of WTO-plus and WTO-extra policy areas on the production networks trade in all 33 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries from 1990 to 2016. 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