MERCOSUR AND ITS IMPACT ON THE PAC’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FREE-TRADE PROMOTION AND GROWTH SINCE ITS INCEPTION

Michael Campbell
Florida A&M University
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to determine whether over the past twenty-two (22)
years the trade bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela) has been
successful in achieving its main objective. Export and import, were collected, from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Year Book of Trade Statistics, and analyzed to determine
the level of trade, development and growth that has been achieved by members of the bloc.
The bloc’s Balance of Trade was also calculated utilizing the Export and Import data. SPSS
software was used to analyze the data and results of the descriptive statistics and correlation
were tabulated. The results of the analysis clearly indicated that over the twenty-two years
from its inception, Mercosur did achieve a free-trade agreement with bloc members, in theory,
and modest economic growth, but economic development was not attained by each bloc
member.