EXPORT BOOM AND RE-PRIMARISATION IN LATIN AMERICA (1994-2019): DETERMINING FACTORS OF AGRI-FOOD PRODUCT EXPORTS

Documento de Trabajo #2206

Título: Export Boom and Re-Primarisation in Latin America (1994-2009): Determining Factors of Agri-Food Product Exports

Autor/es: María-Isabel Ayuda, Ignacio Belloc, and Vicente Pinilla

Autor de correspondencia: Ignacio Belloc (ibelloc@unizar.es)

Abstract: Since the mid-1990s, Latin American countries have substantially increased their agri-food exports, recovering a considerable part of their weight of overall global exports. The objective of this article is to explain the characteristics of the exporting boom experienced between 1994 and 2019 and its determining factors. To do this, we analyse the evolution of exports, their composition by product, the principal origins and destinations, the importance of the regional trade agreements and the behaviour of their prices. Furthermore, a series of gravity models are estimated, using the agri-food exports of nineteen Latin American countries to their 186 principal trading partners between 1994 and 2019. These models are estimated for total agri-food exports and for their breakdown into three product groups. Among the main determinants identified, our results suggest that external demand and the proliferation of regional trade agreements were the principal reasons of this export boom.