Exploring the U-shape geographical bias in manufactured exports of MERCOSUR countries

Resumen

We proposed a novel approach to understand the industrialization pattern of MERCOSUR countries during the last 60 years. We performed an index to measure the geographical bias of manufactured exports between the region and the world and showed that regional trade agreements allowed MERCOSUR countries to decrease the bias and increase competitiveness. However, we noted that in recent years the bias deepened in favor of exporting a higher proportion of manufactured goods to the region. Our main result is that these economies present a U-shape geographical bias in manufactured exports associated with a bimodal distribution of breaks. Furthermore, we observed that the 1980s and 2000s were the most relevant periods for defining the region trends.