Halfway to 2030 in Latin America and the Caribbean: progress and recommendations for acceleration

The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are halfway through the time frame set for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that underpin the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The progress towards the Goals and targets was drastically hampered by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has taken a heavy toll across the globe since 2020 and undermined efforts to achieve the Agenda in many regions of the world, including Latin America and the Caribbean, hardest hit by the pandemic. The last biennium has also been marked by global developments that have advers…

Second Report on the Implementation of the Biennial Programme of Regional and International Cooperation Activities, 2022-2023, of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

International Decade for People of African Descent: brief review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean

People of African descent suffer high levels of inequality and deprivation which, as the figures presented in this report show, have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. This publication seeks to capture the perspectives of people of African descent and document some of their contributions and strategies for addressing the socio-health and economic crisis. To this end, the United Nations prioritizes the integration of a human rights approach in all responses to the pandemic and offers recommendations to combat structural racial discrimination and promote reconstruction with equality.…

The landscape of B2C e-commerce marketplaces in Latin America and the Caribbean

The digitization of economy, and particularly the e-commerce can encourage innovation and contribute to the process of digital transformation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) through the implementation of digital technologies and new business models, which can improve the efficiency and productivity of companies beyond its effects on access to new markets. Despite potential gains, activity of online platforms implies risks and challenges in terms of antitrust regulation, data protection, cybersecurity, and market dynamic. Better quality of institutions and an effective judiciary s…

Report of the First Annual Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean

The First Annual Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Quito on 22 and 23 November 2022. The Forum was convened by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its capacity as Secretariat of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Go…

Report of the Fourth session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Annotated provisional agenda. Sixth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development

Provisional agenda. Sixth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development

Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean. Implementation guide

This guide has been prepared to raise awareness about the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement), to provide guidance and information to the States parties and other stakeholders to ensure full compliance with the treaty provisions, to serve as a supporting document for the States that are considering becoming parties and to allow the public at large to become better acquainted with the Agreement.…

Annotated provisional agenda. Twenty-second meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Provisional agenda. Twenty-second meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 4

Analysis of Central American trade integration from the perspective of intraregional value added

The aim of this article is to study trade integration in Central America from a value added perspective, using the first regional input-output table, a tool developed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in close cooperation with the central banks and statistical institutes of the region. The strategy of open regionalism employed by the countries of Central America has resulted in significant subregional trade integration with regard to gross exports; however, these exports include a significant share of intermediate inputs from outside the subregion. The vert…

The COVID-19 pandemic and social policy narratives in Costa Rica: the story of a (fleeting) opportunity

Did the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic embolden ideas favourable to inclusive social policy in Latin America? This article addresses that question by examining the emergency cash transfer programme that was implemented in Costa Rica in 2020. Drawing on legislative debates and interviews with senior officials and analysts, the study reveals the fleeting emergence of ideas in favour of expanding non-contributory social protection. The new programme was quickly reined in by a discourse that assimilated fiscal responsibility to cutting social spending rather than expanding revenues. Avoid…

Instability constraints and development traps: an empirical analysis of growth cycles and economic volatility in Latin America

Latin America and the Caribbean is a region characterized by a repetitive pattern of volatility that thwarts its development process. This article conducts an empirical investigation into its volatility, comparing it with other regions. First, an asymmetrical band-pass filter is used to decompose GDP growth time series into cycles of different types for 136 countries, employing data from the Maddison Project Database for 1950–2018. Next, k-means clustering methods are used to classify volatility patterns into groups to understand their characteristics. In most countries in the region, overall …

Economic complexity and employment in Brazilian states

This paper has three objectives: (i) to identify promising sectors worth encouraging with a view to fostering the development of the Brazilian states; (ii) to evaluate the impact of economic complexity on the volume of employment; and (iii) to simulate how many new jobs would be created if each state were to become competitive in the activities considered promising for it. The results obtained vindicate the approach of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which emphasizes the contribution of changes in the production structure to the development process, and rea…

Productive development policy for Chile: an alternative to stagnation

Since 1998, Chile has been experiencing a significant slowdown in its economic growth. The Chilean economy’s recent poor performance is attributable to a halt in productive and export diversification around the beginning of the twenty-first century. State interventions have been horizontal, eschewing those to support specific industries. Intermediate interventions have focused on promoting activities (such as new exports and technologies) that form only a small part of the Chilean economy, leaving a wide margin for market forces to select companies and sectors. In terms of vertical policies, s…

Health system privatization, the pandemic and deprivatization under discussion

This article analyses the privatization processes that have been implemented in the health systems of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. It describes and characterizes the participation of the public and private components of each of these systems, and analyses the politics of the public policies involved in these privatization processes. The results reveal the presence of multiple public-private relationships that adopted different forms over time. The article also analyses some of the responses provided and the challenges faced by the health systems during the coronavirus disease (COVID-…

CEPAL Review No. 139

Energy security in Central America: a proposal for a comprehensive estimate

This paper presents a set of indicators for the evaluation of energy security in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. A study of the energy problems of each country established indicators suitable for producing an energy security index (ESI). These indicators were submitted to experts for validation, with the help of energy sector specialists from the Central American countries. The Delphi method was used to process the results, and all the indicators were approved. SPSS software was used to conduct a principal component analysis with the aim of compactin…