Export Growth in Latin America


Book Description

Although Latin American and Caribbean countries have assigned a high priority to increasing exports, export performance in most cases remains deficient. This work investigates why this is so, identifying the policies that determine successes and failures in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.




Export Dynamics and Economic Growth in Latin America


Book Description

This title was first published in 2000: This text aims to be essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the microeconomic foundations behind the Latin American export boom, the ways in which government policies affecting exports may retard or promote economic growth, and the future prospects of the proposed Free Trade Association of the Americas. The authors conduct an econometric analysis which uses measures of export diversification, structural change in exports, and exports similarity which provide a basis for region-wide comparisons. The cases of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela are analyzed in particular detail. Cross-country analysis focuses on the potential role of export diversification in promoting economic growth, in the context of other important determinants of growth.










The Economic History of Latin America Since Independence


Book Description

A comprehensive balanced portrait of the factors affecting economic development in Latin America, first published in 2003.




The Dragon in the Room


Book Description

In the eyes of many, China's unprecedented economic rise has brought nothing but good news to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Indeed, China's growing appetite for primary products, and the ability of Latin America to supply that demand, has played a role in restoring growth in Latin America, both in the run-up to the global financial crisis and in its aftermath. The dragon in the room that few are talking about is the fact that China is simultaneously out-competing Latin American manufacturers in world markets—so much so that it may threaten the ability of the region to generate long-term economic growth. One of the authors' key claims is that China is rapidly building the technological capabilities necessary for industrial development, whereas Latin American tech innovation and sophistication lags considerably. At a deeper level, the findings in this volume imply that China's road to globalization, one that emphasizes gradualism and coordinated macro-economic and industrial policies, is far superior to the "Washington Consensus" route taken by most Latin American nations, particularly Mexico.




The First Export Era Revisited


Book Description

This book challenges the wide-ranging generalizations that dominate the literature on the impact of export-led growth upon Latin America during the first export era. The contributors to this volume contest conventional approaches, stemming from structuralism and dependency theory, which portray a rather negative view of the impact of nineteenth-century globalization upon Latin America. It has been considered that, as a result of the role of Latin American countries as providers of raw materials produced in enclaves dominated by foreign capital, their participation in the world economy has had adverse consequences for their long-term development. This volume addresses a representative sample of countries with varied initial conditions and resource endowments, a diverse productive specialization, as well as different degrees of integration to the world economy. This allows a direct comparison among the different experiences within the region, which in turn enables a more nuanced understanding of the contribution of exports to economic growth and economic modernization. Seven national case studies are presented – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Bolivia – which offer an insight into the successes of a region traditionally viewed as disadvantaged by globalization and export-led growth. Winner of the Vicens Vives prize for the best economic history book granted by the Spanish Economic History Association.







Who Gains from Free Trade


Book Description

The issue of the pros and cons of free trade from the point of view of developing countries refuses to dissipate, and in Latin America, the debate rages most fiercely. Argentina is still licking its wounds after a catastrophic past five years, and Brazil and others have hardened their line – even going so far as to initiate the influential new G20 group of the most powerful LDCs. Who Gains from Free Trade examines the extent to which trade reforms have been an important source of the slowdown of economic growth, rising inequality and rising poverty as observed in many parts of the region. This volume presents a comprehensive analysis of this important topic, utilizing: research based on sixteen country narratives of policy reform and economic performance rigorous general equilibrium (CGE) modelling of the economy-wide effects of trade reform for all country cases application of an innovative method of microsimulations to assess the employment and factor income distribution impact of policy reforms on poverty and inequality at the household level. This important study, a valuable resource for postgraduate students of development economics and political economy, examines all the current issues and brings together some of the world’s leading experts.




Financialisation in Latin America


Book Description

Financial capital continues to dominate Western economic organisations, despite major financial and economic crises. While these have not affected Latin American countries in the same way, other economic problems emerged after the reversion of loose monetary policies that debilitated the export-led growth model. This book discusses the issue of the financialised globalisation model in Latin America, looking at the region’s relationship with the international market. This edited collection is divided into three main sections. The first section discusses regional trends highlighting issues of trade and payments in financialised economies, the impact on deindustrialisation, its effect on inequality, external capital movements and monetary policies. The second section analyses the failure of comparative advantages of the export-led model in Colombia, Argentina and Mexico. Finally, the last section deals with the growth of financial balance sheets in small and developing economies such as Chile; how growth, investment and big corporation evolution were affected in Brazil and Mexico; and the effects of foreign exchange activity in Mexico. Through these discussions, this book aims to deepen the understanding of the crisis of financialisation and the export-led model, raising the question of whether it is possible for this model to continue or if it requires major readjustments to unfold economic growth. This book provides a distinctive analysis of the financialisation mechanisms in developing countries in order to emphasise affinities and differences between the countries of the region in productive and financial terms. It will be of great interest to economic and social science scholars and students, to journalists specialising on economic and development issues, and, more importantly, to policy makers.