Business Environment in Latin America 2010–2021: A Comparative Study Between Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance Countries

The fundamental objective of this chapter, regarding the main Latin American economies, is to identify the business conditions with which companies faced the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific period under study is from 2010 to 2021. The key components of this research will be studied in relation to business environment, economic growth, and aspects of corruption/transparency in countries that belong to Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance (PA). Mercosur stands for Southern Common Market in Latin America – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay; the PA is formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. Each of the indicators will be studied based on the time series in addition to its interaction with the other variables. In this way, it will be possible to identify conditions that could be relevant to the sustainability of companies in the Latin American region.