Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Beyond Borders

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Asia – LAC
    • Innovation and Technology
    • Investment Attraction
    • Public-Private Alliances
    • Regional Cooperation
    • Regional Integration
    • Trade & Investment Agreements
    • Trade Facilitation
    • Trade Promotion
  • Authors
  • Spanish

The Integration Waze: the partnership between INTAL and Latinobarómetro and the region’s demand for integration

January 3, 2017 by Santiago Chelala Leave a Comment


The popular smartphone app Waze tells you the quickest, least congested route for getting wherever it is you want to go. Few roads have been as winding as Latin America’s path to integration, which has involved progress and setbacks, bogus shortcuts, and even the occasional roadblock and picket line. So how can we work out the best route to integration?

The secret of Waze’s success is simple: it provides information on things that other people are doing that we weren’t previously aware of. It provides information on things that other people are doing that we weren’t previously aware of. If there is a traffic jam because too many cars are trying to use a particular street, the app recommends an alternative route. If a highway is clear, the app immediately suggests we take it.

This same principle of shared information is the cornerstone of the partnership between INTAL and Latinobarómetro (link in Spanish), which has identified the neuralgic points in the region’s demand for integration through 20,000 exclusive polls in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

How close is a given country’s desired export profile to other countries’ expectations of this? How receptive to foreign investments is a given country that is seeking to attract capital? How willing are people to pay for better infrastructure in a country that has not made any major improvements to its internal logistics in recent years?

Let’s look at some examples to illustrate how useful this new tool is. A few months ago, Colombia began negotiations with China toward a free trade agreement (FTA). What outcomes have been seen in countries that already have FTAs with China? Latinobarómetro’s work shows that perceptions of China are particularly high in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica, the three countries that have already signed FTAs with the Asian giant and where over 40% of the population expressed positive opinions of it.

Another example is beef, Argentina’s most prized export product. Do other Latin Americans rate it highly? Contrary to what might be expected, food is far from being one of the distinctive features that other Latin Americans associate with Argentina. Sports (80% of mentions) and tourism (41%) are the backbone of Argentina’s nation branding, while food culture is one of the features that people associate with Peru (79%). How can countries bring their nation-branding strategy in line with the economic sectors that they are actually trying to promote?

By cross-referencing analyses of public opinions with national statistics and data on trade, we can assess how issues such as trade agreements, investment agreements, nation-branding strategies, or immigration reform may impact integration policies and learn more about the objective and subjective consequences of these in other countries.

Cross-referencing subjective and objective data allows us to establish behavior patterns that form what we call the DNA of regional integration, an exercise that reveals connections between each country’s actual economy and the subjective opinions of its inhabitants. Without delving into causal explanations, this process reveals interesting correlations that function rather like an interactive map: they tell us where others were able to move forward and where they got stuck. The conclusions that this Waze for integration has reached are categorical:

  • Countries which show greater support for integration also show greater support for democracy and higher levels of trust in their government.
  • Countries with more concentrated export baskets show greater support for economic integration.
  • Countries that prioritize investment tend to receive higher levels of foreign investment.
  • Countries with greater infrastructure deficits are more willing to take on credit or pay taxes to finance infrastructure works to facilitate integration.
  • Countries that value innovation more highly tend to have larger shares of exports with technological content.
  • Countries whose populations prioritize the environment make greater use of alternative energy sources.
  • Countries where people are more willing to pay for products that respect workers’ rights also have more equal income distributions.

At a time of rising protectionism, Latin America has an invaluable asset: 77% of Latin Americans support regional economic integration processes. The challenge ahead is how to build on this starting point to drive high-quality integration. With our sights set on this horizon, it won’t hurt to check the Waze of integration from time to time.


Filed Under: Regional Cooperation, Regional Integration Tagged With: Regional Integration

Santiago Chelala

Doctor en Economía por la Universidad de Buenos Aires, fue becario Fulbright posdoctoral en Columbia University (Nueva York), investigador visitante en la Universidad Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) y en la Universidad Lumière (Lyon), profesor en el Instituto del Servicio Exterior de la Nación (ISEN) y periodista en El Cronista Comercial. Publicó artículos en revistas académicas de Italia, España, Argentina, México, Colombia, Venezuela y Chile. Autor de los libros Inflación Estructural y Ajuste Externo, La Era de la Inflación y Economía de la Evasión. También es editor de la Revista Integración & Comercio que publica el BID-INTAL.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Productivity and Trade

This space explores how trade, investment and sustainable development in strategic sectors can boost productivity and strengthen more dynamic, inclusive and resilient economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. From trade facilitation and export and investment promotion to entrepreneurship, the development of public-private synergies, agri-food systems and tourism, we address challenges and opportunities for growth in the region.

Related posts

  • How Will New Technologies Impact Integration in Latin America?
  • How Has the Pandemic Impacted Latin Americans’ Views on Regional Integration?
  • Infrastructure, Trade, and Integration: the Case of the Pacific Alliance
  • Latin Americans: On Board with Trade
  • Indirect Exports: A Simple Route to Internationalization for SMEs?

Categories

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube
    This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
    To learn more about cookies, click here
    X
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT