Trade treaties and the boost of Argentine Exports, 1880-1929

PINILLA, VICENTE; RAYES, AGUSTINA

Congreso; Agricliometrics V; 2023

From the moment of Independence, the region that later became Argentina was interested in promoting foreign economic relations. One way of doing this was to sign trade treaties, in particular during the second half of nineteenth century. All of these treaties had a clear goal: to improve commercial connections not only with European countries but also with American ones. In fact, the literature has recognised those agreements as part of the country´s economic integration into the global system during the so-called First Globalisation (c. 1850-1914). Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, their impact on foreign trade has not been measured. Thus, in this research, we ask whether a direct link existed between the signing of agreements and the performance of different types of exports (livestock, crops or processed agrifood products), and the application of the Most Favoured Nation clause (absolute or conditional). Specifically, the sources used to carry out this analysis are a database of Argentine exports from 1880 to 1929 and each of the ratified trade treaties signed by Argentina in the course of the period (or before).