ABSTRACT:  This study compared productivity growth between the Mercosur and Sica blocs. Productivity Indexes. Between the period 2008 and 2022, the Mercosur and Sica blocs showed a divergent pattern of productivity growth with the index in Malmquist slightly increasing while that of Sica is decreasing over, with wider variation than Mercosur over the period. In terms of technological change, the index for Mercosur is greater than that of Sica, but variation in technological change in Mercosur being greater compared with Sica  Technical efficiency change was lower in Mercosur compared with Sica.  

Regression results. Of the variables studied, in the Mercosur region, an increase in market size in the market group, the literacy rate and access to credit in the human capital/private sector group, gross fixed capital formation, percent of the population with access to electricity in the infrastructure group, are likely to have a greater positive impact on productivity in Mercosur than in Sica. In the productive sector, increasing operations in the manufacturing sector is likely to have a greater impact than the other sectors, which includes mining, drilling and construction, on productivity. In Sica, increasing production in the agriculture sector is likely to have a similar impact.  

Keywords: Caribbean, Latin America, Productivity Growth, Technical Efficiency, Technological Change.