Pacific Alliance Research Articles

La Alianza del Pacífico: más cooperación que integración

The Pacific Alliance was established as a strategy of open regionalism in the region that seeks closer ties with Asia-Pacific and greater interdependence among its members. However, 13 years after the signing of the agreement, the results are more cooperation than integration. The changing Latin American political landscape shows a weakening of this multilateral organization, giving way to regionalism and a soft and pendular leadership. This article mentions its stages, achievements and future possibilities. Its evolution and trajectory have not been homogeneous, but rather present ups and downs and the possibility of new issues. The methodology is qualitative, combining primary and secondary sources, and counterbalances media with academic analysis.

Dow Jones sustainability Mila Pacific Alliance index and financial performance of Latin America integrated market

Dow Jones sustainability Mila Pacific Alliance index and financial performance of Latin America integrated market

Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth in the Pacific Alliance countries

This article empirically analyzed the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth (EG) in the Pacific Alliance countries. Quarterly data was used for each variable, and unit root tests, cointegration, and causality tests were applied. Additionally, a multivariate error correction model and impulse response functions were estimated. The main hypotheses were that FDI promotes the economic growth of the recipient countries and that economic growth contributes to attracting higher FDI flows. The results showed that in some countries, foreign investment promoted economic growth and, in turn, that EG contributed to attracting higher investment flows. However, in other cases, this relationship did not hold. These results suggest that factors such as infrastructure, financial market development, macroeconomic stability, institutional quality, and human capital are determinants of maximizing the benefits of FDI.

Macrofinancial interconnections in the Pacific Alliance: a quantile approach of stock markets and macroeconomic factors

ABSTRACT This study explores the macrofinancial interconnectedness within the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) by utilizing a Quantile Vector Autoregression (QVAR) approach to dissect the directional spillover effects between macroeconomic variables and MSCI stock indices. By employing autoencoder techniques for dimensionality reduction, the research decodes significant macroeconomic dimensions influencing stock market behaviours. The findings show patterns of spillover effects, highlighting the variable roles of these economies as transmitters and receivers of economic shocks, particularly after the Pacific Alliance agreement.

Strategic Regionalism of the Pacific Alliance: An Outlook throughout the Investment

The Pacific Alliance (PA) is considered a strategic regionalism in Latin America due to the pragmatic policy trade of the members. One of these pragmatic elements is investment. This article analyzes intra-regional investment flows in the PA in the period 2010–2021 as evidence of strategic regionalism. This article examines the characteristics of the strategic regionalism and the theoretical approaches to foreign direct investment (FDI) from the perspective of capital localization and the internationalization processes of companies. Based on official statistics from the countries, annual FDI and intra-regional investment flows are studied, along with a qualitative analysis of the Pacific Alliance Investment Facilitation Initiative. It concludes that the PA's intra-regional investment is explained by the internationalization and economic importance of multilatina companies, and that it should consider alliances with Chinese enterprises.

Regional Value Chains for Processed Foods in The Pacific Alliance

Objetivo: el presente estudio se enfocó en identificar las oportunidades de encadenamientos productivos para la conformación de cadenas regionales de valor en el sector de alimentos procesados entre Chile, Colombia, México y Perú, países que conforman la Alianza del Pacífico (AP). Metodología: se aplicó una metodología cualitativa. Para esto, se seleccionaron productos del sector de alimentos que presentaron saldo comercial positivo para algunos de los países de la AP, entre los años 2017-2021, identificándose, dentro de ellos, bienes finales e insumos según los procesos de elaboración industrial y se organizaron cadenas de valor; posteriormente, se estableció el papel que desempeña cada país como fabricante de bienes finales o como proveedor de insumos en la cadena. Los productos se asociaron a la clasificación del sistema armonizado arancelario a cuatro dígitos. Resultados: Se identificaron trece cadenas de valor asociadas a los bienes finales y treinta y dos bienes insumos con potencial exportador; se destaca que los cuatro países pueden ser fabricantes de bienes finales en al menos tres cadenas; México puede ser fabricante de bienes finales en doce cadenas; con respecto a insumos, en siete de las trece cadenas pueden participar los cuatro países de la Alianza conjuntamente; en las demás, participan al menos tres de ellos. Conclusiones: se aprecia que los países de la Alianza del Pacífico tienen potencial para conformar cadenas de valor en alimentos procesados; se destaca, además, el liderazgo que en esta industria tiene México como fabricante de bienes finales, así como la diversidad de insumos que puede suministrar cada país. Originalidad: sobresale el papel que puede desempeñar cada país de la Alianza del Pacífico como fabricante de productos finales o proveedores de insumos en los productos que tienen fortalezas exportadoras hacia la conformación de articulaciones productivas.

The Regulatory Status of Functional Foods in the Economic Integration Organizations of Latin America and the Caribbean

The legal declarations on functional foods of the four main economic integration organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) – Pacific Alliance (PA), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and Central American Integration System (SICA) - are based on the Codex Alimentarius system and do not regulate functional foods. The use of Codex in food marketing is an insufficient condition for its application in functional foods. Regulation based on scientific and technology results are required to be used in the economic integration organizations of LAC. Objective. The objective is to analyze the theoretical framework of the legal foundations that could govern the commercialization processes of functional foods, whose research advances have currently only been manifested in nutritional health. This article also seeks to address this gap through a systematic analysis of international regulations. Materials and methods. For this, a review of the literature emanating from two databases from 2018-2023 is carried by applying the legal-economic research method of documentary content analysis, applied to three general food marketing regulations: food safety declarations, regulations for inspections, food manufacturing and food labeling. Results. The results reveal the absence of specific legislation for functional foods in LAC economic integration organizations. Conclusions. The legal principle of marketing based on peremptory norm (also called jus cogens) can be facilitated through side letters, included in the contents of international contracts. along with the registration requirements of industrial property rights of the member countries associations.

The causal relationship between the Emerging Markets Bond Indicator and the price performance of capital markets belonging to the Pacific Alliance

El presente artículo busca contribuir al desarrollo empírico de la relación existente entre el riesgo país, a través del Indicador de Bonos de Mercados Emergentes y el rendimiento del precio de instrumentos financieros en los mercados de capitales, para el caso de los países que integran la Alianza del Pacífico. Empleando una investigación de tipo aplicada con un enfoque cuantitativo, de diseño no experimental y de corte longitudinal, se analizaron datos diarios comprendidos en el período 2018-2022. Se utilizó la prueba de raíz unitaria de Dickey-Fuller Aumentada, prueba cointegración de Engle-Granger, modelo de vectores autorregresivos (VAR) y la prueba de causalidad de Granger. Se determinó el número de rezagos óptimos a emplear, concluyendo en causalidad bidireccional en el sentido de Granger para el caso de Chile, explicando que el Indicador de Bonos Emergentes causa al indicador bursátil de rendimiento de precio; causalidad bidireccional en el sentido de Granger para el caso de Colombia, donde ambas variables se influyen mutuamente y son predictores importantes de la otra; y causalidad unidireccional en el sentido de Granger del indicador bursátil de rendimiento de precio al riesgo país a través del Indicador de Bonos de Mercados Emergentes en el caso de México y Perú

Colombia's entry into the pacific alliance; a reading from the perspective of neoclassical realism

Colombia's entry into the pacific alliance; a reading from the perspective of neoclassical realism

Pacific Pumas in Indian Jungle: Place of Latin America in Indo-Pacific

The article examines the political potential of Latin American countries in bolstering their influence within the Indo-Pacific region (IP). It delves into the Indo-Pacific concept, championed internationally by India and Japan, as an alternative viewpoint in contrast to the predominant orientation towards China as the regional leader in the Asia-Pacific region. Carlos Exudé's "Peripheral Realism" provides the theoretical framework for the study, although Latin American states strive to move beyond their peripheral status.The focus is on four Pacific coastal countries in Latin America: Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Chile. It identifies key areas of cooperation between these nations and major players in the IP such as India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Chile and Peru have established a more robust transpacific partnership compared to their neighbors. However, Mexico possesses a significant advantage due to its unique geographical position intersecting the Atlantic and Pacific routes.Colombia, along with Mexico, Chile, and Peru, formed the Pacific Alliance, an integration association that emphasizes closer ties with Asian countries. Over its decade-long existence, this Alliance has significantly increased in both economic and political significance. The article highlights the pivotal role of this alliance in fostering Asian-Latin American trade and entrepreneurship.The study also delves into the prospects of integrating the two regions by extending the reach of Pacific economic megablocks (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Trans-Pacific Partnership) to Latin America. After the ratification of the TPP by Mexico, Peru, and Chile, an agreement that unites all four Pacific Ocean continents for the first time emerged. The advent of the RCEP, which includes powerful economies such as China, South Korea, and Japan, demonstrates a clear global shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from West to East. The inclusion of Latin American countries in these processes is poised to advance their regional and global interests on the international stage.

Bibliometric review on microplastic contamination in the Pacific Alliance countries.

Microplastics, capable of absorbing persistent organic compounds, heavy metals, and emerging pollutants, are of global concern due to their potential to alter the behavior and metabolism of biota. In Latin America, the Pacific Alliance, comprising Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile, stands out for its biological wealth and productive ecosystems, which account for 37% of the region's gross domestic product. The leaders of these countries expressed their concern about microplastic pollution and pledged to take joint action. We conducted an analysis of the scientific production of these countries and the collaborations of their researchers, focused on the period 2015-2023, using Scopus and SCImago. We observed that marine-coastal/wetland ecosystems are the most studied, with a focus on fish, and that Mexico leads in publications, followed by Colombia, Peru, and Chile. In addition, we note the absence of an inter-institutional group dedicated to microplastics research in these countries. We recommend promoting collaboration between academic institutions specialized in microplastic research and government agencies dedicated to the promotion of science and technology in the countries belonging to the Pacific Alliance.

Does regional trade integration reinforce or weaken capital mobility? New evidence from four free trade areas

The study aims to empirically determine whether a higher level of trade openness and the presence of better legal protection for investors enhances the impact of trade bloc membership on capital mobility based on four trading blocs: Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), and the Pacific Alliance. This study employs the fully modified and dynamic ordinary least squares estimators and a panel quantile regression cointegration estimator. The study finds that a country's affiliation with a trade bloc improves capital mobility in the whole group and EAEU region, low capital mobility in the Pacific Alliance region and moderate low capital mobility in the CAFTA-DR region. The legal protection system alone provided for the investors does not improve the level of capital mobility unless its interaction with investment is included. Also the study reveals that high trade openness does not necessarily lead to better capital mobility for the studied trade blocs.

Determinants of Economic Development in the Pacific Alliance: an empirical approach using Panel Data 2004-2020

Determinants of Economic Development in the Pacific Alliance: an empirical approach using Panel Data 2004-2020

Effects of external shocks on macroeconomic fluctuations in Pacific Alliance countries

Effects of external shocks on macroeconomic fluctuations in Pacific Alliance countries

Characterization of the productive articulation and tourism in the aquaculture farms of Toluca, State of Mexico, and Lake Tota in Boyacá, Colombia, first advance

Global aquaculture has had exponential growth in recent decades (FAO,2020), mainly due to the decrease of wild fish populations in the global oceans and inland water bodies. That is why, according to the projection of specialists, by 2050 these species will have to be produced in controlled conditions, creating, improving, and developing farms that favor the consumption of this food locally, nationally, and internationally. For this reason, the productive articulation that is carried out between the different actors, Company, government, university, and associations of producers, (quadruple hélix), favors the interrelation between them, thus achieving social and economic benefits for the participants. Specifically, this research Project within the framework of the Pacific Alliance Treat aims to analyze the trout farms in Toluca, State of México, and the Tota lagoon in Boyacá, Colombia, to determine in a first approach the characterization of these groups and their relationship with tourism, to propose alternatives that promote greater involvement of the participants and increase collective benefits. This field research, which is carried out in the aforementioned localities, with a qualitative, non-experimental approach based on content analysis, collecting existing data in statistics and official documents of both countries, and with structured interviews conducted with aquaculture managers of the federal and local government and owners of aquaculture farms. The article is preliminary to know the operating conditions of the farms, and the link with Tourism, which will be linked to subsequent publications once the process of obtaining the actors of the productive groupings in México and Colombia is concluded.

Trade Competitiveness, Constituency Interests, and Legislators' Attitudes Towards Trade Agreements

We argue that legislators’ trade attitudes reflect constituents’ economic interests. Concretely, we expect that legislators from districts that are highly competitive in international trade should be more supportive of trade agreements than legislators from noncompetitive districts. The strength of this relationship should be lower in multimember districts and for right‐wing legislators. Data based on surveys with 3,576 legislators from 16 Latin American countries and 48 legislative periods between 2005 and 2019 allow us to test these expectations. The surveys captured legislators’ attitudes towards trade agreements between their countries and the United States and the European Union, respectively, and the Pacific Alliance. We measure districts’ trade competitiveness with an innovative combination of household survey and trade data. The evidence supports all three expectations. The findings contribute to research on trade policymaking, public opinion towards trade, and legislator behavior.

COVID-19 and its short-term informational impact on the stock markets of the Pacific Alliance countries.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43546-023-00469-6.

도전받는 미국의 헤게모니: 중·러의 도전과 진영 형성에 따른 신냉전 가능성

America's hegemony is severely under challenge from China and Russia. Considering the influences of the United States, China, and Russia globally, conflicts among them accelerate the instability of the current international system and inevitability increase the possibility of a new Cold War. China, second in terms of GDP after the United States, and Russia, second in military dominance, are trying to form influence spheres in which they exert main influence based on their economic and military power.
 The spatial range of China and Russia's influence spheres is Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific region, with behavior being mainly political, economic, military, and security-oriented. Meanwhile, as conflict intensifies with the United States, both China and Russia are deepening their relational ties by expanding and accelerating the influence and development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS to achieve countervailing power against the United States. They are also trying to replace the current international leader of the United States via alternatives of their own.
 As China and Russia cooperate more intimately, the United States is mobilizing various available political, economic, and diplomatic instruments. Above all, it seeks to cooperate with 'like-minded partners,' such as the Atlantic and the Pacific Alliance. As the structure of 'China and Russia's challenge to current order' and 'the deterrence of United States to block the rise of China and Russia' becomes more concrete, the world is on the verge of a New Cold War.

Higher Education in the Pacific Alliance: Descriptive and Exploratory Analysis of the Didactic Potential of Virtual Reality

In this paper, we conducted descriptive quantitative research on the assessment of virtual reality (VR) technologies in higher education in the countries of the Pacific Alliance (PA). Specifically, differences between PA countries in terms of the above perceptions were identified and the behavior of the gender and knowledge area gaps in each of them was analyzed. A validated quantitative questionnaire was used for this purpose. As a result, we found that PA professors express high ratings of VR but point out strong disadvantages regarding its use in lectures; in addition, they have low self-concept of their digital competence. In this regard, it was identified that there are notable differences among the PA countries. Mexico is the country with the most marked gender gaps, while Chile has strong gaps by areas of knowledge. We give some recommendations towards favoring a homogeneous process of integration of VR in higher education in the PA countries.

Environmentally Responsible Purchase Intention in Pacific Alliance Countries: Geographic and Gender Evidence in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The objectives of this research were: (1) to examine the influence of environmental awareness (EA), sustainable consumption (SC) and social responsibility (SR) on the environmentally responsible purchase intention (ERPI) of consumers in the member countries of the Pacific Alliance, namely, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru; and (2) to analyze whether there is a moderating effect related to the country of residence and gender of the consumer. The study was conducted under a quantitative and cross-sectional approach. The sample consisted of 1646 consumers: 24.4% from Peru (n = 402), 25.4% from Mexico (n = 418), 26.1% from Colombia (n = 401) and 24.1% from Chile (n = 397). Data analysis and hypothesis testing were performed using a multigroup Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results show a positive influence among environmental awareness (EA), sustainable consumption (SC) and social responsibility (SR) on environmentally responsible purchase intention (ERPI). Gender and country of residence were also shown to be moderating variables in these relationships. In conclusion, it can be affirmed that the participants of this study recognize the importance of acquiring environmentally friendly products. Among them, the female population is more aware of this issue. It is recommended new business models be created to provide products and services oriented to this market according to consumers' tastes, desires and purchasing preferences; the proposals they have should be friendly to the environment and to society.