Intégration régionale et frontière dans le Mercosur : entre théorie, principes et réalités

The process of regionalism should not only induce a macroecononomic and trade convergence but should also produce some local changes. For instance, the social and economic activities at the internal border areas will evolve, the asymetric trade advantages will be replaced by comparative interests, the spatial disadvantage due to the periphery situation will disappear, and so on. To test these potential changes and the local impacts of any regionalism we have analysed the case of Mercosur. More precisely, the paper first defines the official policies of the Community in terms of local development. Second, empirical conclusions will follow, based on information collected at the border between Argentine and Brazil (at Paso de los Libres).