This study investigates the recent behavior of the Argentine and Brazilian stock markets. Our goal is to evaluate the level of integration between these markets in the period prior (1982-1990) and after (1991-1995) the introduction of Mercosul. Our findings show a clear distinction between the two periods. Before the introduction of Mercosul, the Latin markets were segmented and were not related to the global pricing factors we used. For the period after the introduction of Mercosul, we found evidence of increased integration between the Argentine and Brazilian stock markets even after we controlled for integration with the US and Chilean markets.
emerging markets; market integration; Mercosul; Argentina; Brazil