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Empty promises and nonincorporation in Mercosur

Arnold, Christian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7042-594X 2016. Empty promises and nonincorporation in Mercosur. International Interactions 43 (4) , pp. 643-667. 10.1080/03050629.2016.1206391

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Abstract

Why do the member states of the world’s fourth-largest trading block incorporate only about two-thirds of all policies they adopt? This article argues that empty promises are an important reason for Mercosur’s incorporation problems and that Mercosur’s institutional design furthers such a defective behavior. Member governments easily sign agreements whenever they are rewarded for the mere act of doing so. However, if they expect high costs from implementing these policies, they try to avoid incorporation. Since only the last state to incorporate a policy triggers its overall legal validity, Mercosur’s members can easily veto any agreement ex post. In addition to empty promises, mismanaged drafting and incorporation and the abuse of negotiation power also pose important obstacles to incorporation. Free riding, however, does not play a role. Due to the incorporation rules, there can be no externalities that incentivize unilateral defection. The article substantiates the arguments empirically with the multivariate analysis of the complete incorporation record of 1,033 policies adopted between 1994 and 2008.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Published Online
Status: Published
Schools: Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles
ISSN: 0305-0629
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 8 December 2017
Date of Acceptance: 1 June 2016
Last Modified: 07 Nov 2023 06:40
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/108201

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