Inequality and Convergence in Latin American Regional Trade Agreements

The process of Latin American integration has been characterized by both significant advances and setbacks; it is driven by the potential for economic convergence, which seeks to reduce disparities and asymmetries among the region's countries. This article aims to estimate inequality indexes and assess the presence of convergence within and among Latin American integration blocs-The Pacific Alliance, the Andean Community, and the Southern Common Market. To achieve this goal, measures of inequality-including sigma dispersion, the Gini coefficient, and the Theil index-were calculated for the past 22 years. The findings indicate that inequality has increased throughout most of the studied period, with the Southern Common Market exhibiting the highest levels of inequality, followed by the Andean Community and the Pacific Alliance. Furthermore, the analysis of data from 1990 to 2021 reveals a lack of economic convergence between the Southern Common Market and the Andean Community during periods of unilateral trade liberalization, North-South free trade agreements, and the commodities boom. Similarly, the Pacific Alliance shows no evidence of economic convergence between its member countries. While the bloc's formation in 2012 suggests a possible shift in the trend, this change is insufficient to establish a definitive convergence. (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic);(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)--(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)--(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)22(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)--(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic), (sic)1990(sic)(sic)2021(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)2012(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic) ((sic)(sic)) (sic)(sic). El proceso de integraci & oacute;n latinoamericana se ha caracterizado por avances y retrocesos significativos y est & aacute; impulsado por el potencial de convergencia econ & oacute;mica que busca reducir las disparidades y asimetr & iacute;as entre los pa & iacute;ses de la regi & oacute;n. Este art & iacute;culo tiene como objetivo estimar & iacute;ndices de desigualdad y evaluar la presencia de convergencia dentro y entre los bloques de integraci & oacute;n latinoamericanos: la Alianza del Pac & iacute;fico, la Comunidad Andina y el Mercado Com & uacute;n del Sur. Para lograr este objetivo, se calcularon medidas de desigualdad, incluida la dispersi & oacute;n sigma, el coeficiente de Gini y el & iacute;ndice de Theil, para los & uacute;ltimos 22 a & ntilde;os. Los resultados indican que la desigualdad ha aumentado durante la mayor parte del per & iacute;odo estudiado, siendo el Mercado Com & uacute;n del Sur el que exhibe los niveles m & aacute;s altos de desigualdad, seguido de la Comunidad Andina y la Alianza del Pac & iacute;fico. Adem & aacute;s, el an & aacute;lisis de los datos de 1990 a 2021 revela una falta de convergencia econ & oacute;mica entre el Mercado Com & uacute;n del Sur y la Comunidad Andina durante los per & iacute;odos de liberalizaci & oacute;n comercial unilateral, acuerdos de libre comercio Norte-Sur y auge de las materias primas. De manera similar, la Alianza del Pac & iacute;fico no muestra evidencia de convergencia econ & oacute;mica entre sus pa & iacute;ses miembros. Si bien la formaci & oacute;n del bloque en 2012 sugiere un posible cambio de tendencia, este cambio no es suficiente para establecer una convergencia definitiva.Clinical Trial Registration: No clinical procedures or trials were conducted.