COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL Y DESARROLLO SUSTENTABLE

The report examines the interaction between economic growth, trade liberalization, and the environment in Argentina during the 1990s. It finds that while manufacturing exports remained dominated by high-pollution sectors, the agricultural sector experienced a 'virtuous cycle' where production increases coincided with the adoption of conservationist technologies like no-till farming and transgenic crops, which mitigated some environmental impacts.

• Between 1990 and 1997, Argentina experienced significant economic growth, with GDP growing at an average annual rate of over 6% and GDP per capita (PPP) increasing from u$s 5,120 in 1991 to u$s 9,950 in 1997.
• Trade liberalization did not result in a 'cleaner' basket of manufacturing exports; sectors with high or medium pollution potential represented 72% of total manufacturing exports in 1990 and 69% in 1997.
• In the manufacturing sector, export-oriented firms improved environmental management as a cost-reduction strategy, though absolute emission levels likely did not decrease and the sector remains far from international best practices.
• The Pampean agricultural sector saw a massive production increase, with primary production rising from 26 million tons in 1988/89 to over 63 million in 1997/98, driven by a 30% increase in land area for main crops and higher technology adoption.
• Agricultural intensification in the Pampean region followed a 'virtuous' path where the adoption of no-till farming (siembra directa) and transgenic materials helped reverse soil erosion and reduce the use of residual herbicides.
• The expansion of no-till farming from 300,000 hectares in 1990/91 to approximately 5.5 million hectares in 1997/98 created a potential for carbon sequestration of about 100 million metric tons of carbon equivalent.
• The only significant environmental concern in the agricultural sector is the potential overexploitation of Pampean aquifers due to the expansion of complementary irrigation with groundwater.

APA

Chudnovsky, D., Rubin, S., Cap, E., & Trigo, E. (1999). COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL Y DESARROLLO SUSTENTABLE. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/xprt1990ssum_s.pdf

Chicago

Chudnovsky, Daniel, Sebastián Rubin, Eugenio Cap, and Eduardo Trigo. COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL Y DESARROLLO SUSTENTABLE. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 1999. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/xprt1990ssum_s.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chudnovsky |first1=Daniel |last2=Rubin |first2=Sebastián |last3=Cap |first3=Eugenio |last4=Trigo |first4=Eduardo |title=COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL Y DESARROLLO SUSTENTABLE |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=1999 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/xprt1990ssum_s.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chudnovsky1999comercio, author = {Chudnovsky, Daniel and Rubin, Sebastián and Cap, Eugenio and Trigo, Eduardo}, title = {{COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL Y DESARROLLO SUSTENTABLE}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {1999}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/xprt1990ssum_s.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }