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

What does integration mean for Latin Americans?

May 4, 2016 by Santiago Chelala Leave a Comment


What do Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela have in common, apart from being members of the MERCOSUR? The fact that they are all countries where, as in Ecuador, there is significant public demand for greater integration with the world.

Thanks to the new alliance between the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL) and Latinobarómetro (link in Spanish), for the first time ever we can measure what Latin Americans think about the issues that are most sensitive in terms of public policy design: democracy, regional integration, living conditions, infrastructure, services, citizen security, and the environment, among others.

Continuous Monitoring System for Regional Integration Process in Latin America (SEPI)

Fuente: INTAL/Latinobarómetro 2015

The first set of results from the Continuous Monitoring System for Regional Integration Processes in Latin America (SEPI) proved extremely interesting and, in some cases, rather unexpected. In over 20,000 surveys in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the environment was that was most often voted a development priority.

However, when people were asked if they would be willing to pay 20% more for environmentally friendly products, only 9% said that they “strongly agreed.” As though one thing had nothing to do with the other and as though care for the environment did not depend, at the end of the day, on our responsibility as consumers and producers.

Cross-referencing objective and subjective data reveals that the countries where people are more inclined to pay to take care of the environment are those that produce the most pollution.

In other words, people are only prepared to pay to care for the environment when pollution becomes a problem in their daily lives.

What does integration represent for Latin Americans?

Some 66% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean believe that regional integration has a positive effect on access to technology, 58% on exports, 55% on foreign investment, 52% on employment, and 48% on their own lives.

Perceived Impact of Integration Strategies

Source: INTAL/Latinobarómetro 2015

Furthermore, 69% of Latin Americans agree or strongly agree with their country being able to buy goods and services from any other country in the region and for any other country being able to sell goods and services in theirs.

Links with other nations are a higher priority for younger people and those with higher levels of education and greater subjective incomes. Likewise, countries with the highest most-favored-nation (MFN) tariffs and the lowest economic openness coefficients (exports+imports/GDP) believe more strongly that global integration should be a priority in the public agenda.

But not all the results were so rosy. Some 45% of people believe that regional integration has a negative impact on citizen security. Similarly, 45% disagree or strongly disagree with paying 20% more for products that respect workers’ rights in their own countries or abroad. It is clear that in terms of social integration, we citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean still have a long road ahead of us in our search for a shared identity.

This research from INTAL/Latinobarómetro (link in Spanish) shows very disparate results for each country. Despite this, agreement between objective trends and public perception allow us to outline a two-pronged course of action. On the one hand, we must take subjective needs into account when it comes to establishing priorities and objectives for integration strategies. On the other hand, we need to carefully evaluate whether the decisions made actually have the desired effect on people’s everyday perceptions.

By way of example, knowing that citizens are willing to pay to reduce pollution when levels are high, prevention policies could anticipate these demands and avoid unnecessary costs for the general public.

Future surveys will allow us to evaluate the effect of specific events, such as the signing of trade agreements or changes to environmental regulations, on the population’s subjective perceptions, in order to make integration a fundamental pillar not only of economic development but also of the population’s well-being.

In the coming days we will launch the 2016 surveys throughout the region. Starting in September, we will publish the preliminary results at the INTAL website. The new questionnaire, in addition to its regular contents, includes questions on what do we think about innovation and what does our “country brand” mean to the rest of the world. The challenge is exciting: obtain an ever-more detailed radiograph of Latin Americans opinions. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe and we will send you monthly updates.

INTAL-Latinobarómetro Partnership team contributed to this article.


Filed Under: Investment Attraction, Regional Integration, Trade Promotion Tagged With: Foreign Direct Investment, International trade, 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 Has the Pandemic Impacted Latin Americans’ Views on Regional Integration?
  • The Integration Waze: the partnership between INTAL and Latinobarómetro and the region’s demand for integration
  • Latin Americans: On Board with Trade
  • TECHNO-INTEGRATION IN LATIN AMERICA
  • Technology, a tool to integrate women into the markets of the region

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