We analyze how local labor markets in Mexico adjusted in response to an increase in Chinese import competition between 1998 and 2013. We exploit the spatial variation in import exposure arising from initial differences in industry specialization. We found that the adjustment took various forms:...

We study the impact of import competition on Mexican firm outcomes between 2003 and 2013 by exploiting variation in import penetration across industries. Focusing on the increase in import competition from China that Mexico experienced during this period, we find that the trade shock induced a...

The book explores the impact of transport costs on trade in Latin America and the Caribbean, and argues that transport costs have assumed an unprecedented strategic importance to the region. The region can no longer rely solely on trade agreements, proximity, labor costs and an abundant supply...

Regional integration among asymmetric countries is a hot and burning policy topic worldwide. Deepening Integration in MERCOSUR analyzes the most important issues of economic integration and policy coordination that countries face as they advance towards deeper integration and are urged to...

The country studies and their background papers included in this book were prepared for the Latin America and the Caribbean section of the "Global Research Project: Explaining Growth" of the Global Development Network (GDN), a research effort conducted in association with the Latin American and...

Assessing the trade impacts of domestic transport costs is data demanding and analyses that examine the effects of road quality, a critical aspect in regional and public policy, practically do not exist in the international trade literature. The few studies available rely mostly on...

Our knowledge of the trade effects of domestic infrastructure is very limited. The reason is twofold. First, data needed to examine these effects are not readily available. Second, identifying such effects requires properly addressing potential endogeneity problems affecting the relationship...

What are the main issues in Chile's trade agenda? This paper argues that the country's agenda does not lend itself to that traditional kind of policy advice usually given throughout Latin America. Protection is low and uniform, institutions that govern trade policy are strong and well protected...

This paper examines the role of contracting institutions on the insertion of developing countries in international production networks and particularly on the prospects of LAC to source goods beyond the region's traditional patterns of specialization. We show that LAC's insertion in global...

Este informe, elaborado por el Sector Integración y Comercio del BID, propone reenfocar la agenda de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) en materia de comercio. El análisis realizado busca traer al centro del debate de políticas los costos del comercio que tradicionalmente han sido rezagados a...