Analysis of the Legal and Economic Determinants of Integration in Latin America : The Case of Mercosur

Economic integration and growth in trade within the Latin American region have created a need for new and major legal developments. In this context, the private sector has emerged as the driving force behind legal initiatives related to trade agreements such as the Andean Pact and MERCOSUR (Common Market of the South).Our paper provides an econometric and jurimetric analysis demonstrating how the growth in international intrasectoral trade goes hand-in-hand with the private sector's growing demand for legal harmonization and transplants. Harmonization efforts and transplants are not restricted to trade laws. A survey of the legal history of economic integration reveals that harmonization occurs in areas such as banking, protection of the environment, insurance, securities, liberal professions, international securities exchange regulations, and transportation.This paper illuminates the factors enhancing and hampering the process of legal transplants and harmonization. Specifically, the compatibility in the evolutionary natures of two or more legal systems will be introduced as a factor that affects the need for, and feasibility of, legal integrations. Moreover, this paper demonstrates that this legal compatibility is driven by similarities in economic structure among nations