Cultural trade and economic integration in the global south: An analysis of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa trade bloc

Abstract

Background: Amid growing debates on cultural sovereignty and globalisation, the significance of the role and trade in cultural goods in developing economic connectivity among the emerging economies has gained renewed academic and policy interest. This article, drawing on longitudinal evidence from the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) economies as a focus to examine how changes in the flow of tourists, shifting investment patterns, and access to digital platforms are shaped by the formation of BRICS.
Objectives: This study aims to examine the extent to which the trade in cultural goods can facilitate economic integration among BRICS countries. It specifically investigates the relationships between cultural trade flows and key economic drivers, including tourist arrivals, investment in cultural sectors and digitalisation, while considering the impact of global shocks and the formation of the BRICS trade bloc.
Method: The study employs several econometric approaches, including Ordinary Least Squares models for global and country-specific analysis, panel data methods to capture combined effects across BRICS countries, and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models to explore time series properties and volatility from 1970 to 2021.
Results: The results indicate that tourist flows and access to digitalisation show consistently to have a positive effect on the trade in cultural goods, while investment varies across countries because of differing economic and institutional conditions. The panel data analysis confirms the significance of trade bloc in supporting intra-group cultural trade, while ARIMA and GARCH models reveal lower levels of volatility in the trade in cultural goods relative to the international mean.
Conclusion: Econometric estimates show that tourist arrivals and digital access consistently and significantly expand creative-goods trade across BRICS, investment effects are heterogeneous across countries, panel models identify a positive bloc effect, and ARIMA/GARCH diagnostics indicate persistent yet moderating volatility, with BRICS exhibiting lower variability than the world benchmark.
Contribution: This research contributes to the field of cultural economics by providing evidence on the role of cultural goods trade in economic integration within emerging economies.