Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2004-2005

This year's edition of the Economic survey of Latin America and the Caribbeanis the fifty-seventh in this series. It is divided into two parts. The first analyses the main features of the regional economy, while the second examines the situation in the individual countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The full statistical appendix is published in electronic format for ease of data processing. Part one deals with the performance of the region's economy as a whole and begins with an introductory section that analyses recent changes in some aspects of the region's trade lin…

Trade in services negotiations: a review of the experience of the United States and the European Union in Latin America

Since the entry into force of the results of the Uruguay Round, Latin American Countries have embarked in active trade policy based on negotiations of Free Trade Agreements. These agreements cover a wide range of goods, services and new trade issues. The models followed in negotiations with the United States are based on NAFTA provisions. The European Union has adopted a GATS type approach although some difference exists. This paper analyses the services provisions negotiated by the United States and the European Union with Latin American countries. The paper focuses its analysis on the differ…

Mexico: economic growth, exports and industrial performance after NAFTA

This article concerns Mexico's industrial policy and economic performance, focusing on an analysis of the structural changes associated with NAFTA that have occurred in the country's manufacturing sector. The purpose of the article is to improve our understanding of why the post-NAFTA evolution of the Mexican economy has been characterized by lights and shadows, with low inflation, low budget deficit and a surge in non-oil exports, and on the other hand a slower than expected expansion of economic activity and employment. The article also presents some implications of economi…

Macroeconomic coordination in Latin America: does it have a future?

For most developing countries, open regionalism has emerged as quite a sensible response to the undergoing turbulent and asymmetric process of economic globalization. Moreover, the successful experience of the countries which are now part of the European Union, has made regional integration an increasingly attractive option for the developing world. Whenever regional integration is intended to go beyond merely a free trade agreement, macroeconomic coordination becomes a key issue. Theoretically, the underlying idea of the macroeconomic coordination is the interdependency between econo…

Income inequality in Central America, Dominican Republic and Mexico: assessing the importance of individual and household characteristics

This study investigates the relationship between individual and household characteristics and income inequality in Central America, the Dominican Republic and Mexico from 1990 to 2002. A Theil decomposition exercise of individual and household income inequality is used to determine factors important for the level of inequality. In addition, the use of a novel semi-parametric simulation methodology from DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux (1996) provides counterfactual income distributions of individuals and households to assess the importance of changes in their demographic, education and labo…

CEPAL Review no.87

Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2005

This annual publication, one of the most important of ECLAC, includes official country figures up to November 30th, and an analysis of developments in the region's economy in 2005 and projections for 2006. The Latin American and Caribbean economy grew by 4.3% in 2005, which represents the third consecutive year of growth in the region. Per capita GDP is estimated to have risen by about 3%. Unemployment rate fell from 10.3% in 2004 to 9.3% in 2005 and poverty indices decreased from 44% in 2002 to 40.6% in 2005. The performance of the domestic demand and the expansion of 3.3% of the world …

Programa preliminar. Quinta reunión del Comité Ejecutivo de la Conferencia Estadística de las Américas de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe = Preliminary programme. Fifth meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical...

Access of Latin American and Caribbean exports to the US market 2004-2005

The trade relationship between the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean has grown over the past years to the benefit of both economies. Additionally, important efforts have taken place in pursuit of free trade. The United States Congress approved the Dominican Republic - Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) in 2005. The agreement shall enter into effect on a date to be agreed upon among the parties, pending approval of Nicaragua and Costa Rica legislatures. Furthermore, the United States is negotiating with Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador to establish the Andean Free Trade…

Export promotion policies in CARICOM: main issues, effects and implications

The purpose of this document is to describe, analyze and assess export promotion policies in the case of CARICOM economies. At the national level CARICOM economies are at different stages in their export promotion efforts ranging from countries such as Suriname where export promotion is a distant objective to Barbados where the authorities have decidedly adopted an upper income echelon approach to the development of tourism. The common denominators (with the exception of small size and the adoption fiscal incentives) that can characterize or encompass their export promotion experiences are the…

Economic survey of the Caribbean 2004-2005

Implementing trade policy in Latin America: the cases of Chile and Mexico

Implementation problems have emerged as one of the key items in the international negotiating agenda. This paper analyses the experiences of Chile and Mexico in implementing trade agreements. The negotiations of FTAs have implied changing the institutional environment of Latin American countries. Transparency obligations are changing the way policies in general are formulated, adopted and implemented. Other obligations have created the need to introduce new legislation where it did not exist. Implementation takes place at different moments in time and at different stages of the negotiations an…

Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2004: 2005 trends

The 2004 edition of Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy, which reviews the past year and looks at trends in 2005, is divided into six chapters. Chapter I examines recent developments in the world economy, particularly the major changes occurring in the structure of international trade and financial flows and their implications for the Latin American and Caribbean countries. Chapter II analyses the international negotiations taking place within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO). These multilateral negotiations have yet to result in the anticipated convergence,…

Hunger and malnutrition in the countries of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)

The current nutritional situation of Latin America and the Caribbean is another indicator of its social inequalities. With food production currently tripling the energy requirements of the population, there are 53 million people who have no access to sufficient food, whereas 7 percent of children under five have low weight and 16 percent have low height per age. In this way, the characteristics shown by the nutritional profile of the Latin American and Caribbean population are not random but a reflection of the great income inequalities and of the insufficient relevance given to food and nutri…

Social Panorama of Latin America 2004

The 2004 edition of the Social Panorama of Latin America analyses the major demographic changes that have occurred in the region over the past few decades, examines the socioeconomic status of Latin American youth, looks at institutional and programmatic guidelines for youth policies and describes how household structures and family roles have changed. As in past years, recent trends in poverty and income distribution in the Latin American countries are also reviewed. The first chapter presents projections of poverty and indigence rates for 2003 and 2004. The conclusion drawn from these projec…

Alternative measures of potential economic growth in Latin America

Hubert Escaith is Director of the Division of Statistics and Economic Projections of ECLAC. These methodological notes were prepared for a lecture at the 2005 ECLAC Summer School. They are based on, and up-date, a series of papers in Spanish published in 2003 and 2004, which received in 2005 the award Maestro Jesus Silva Herzog from Economic Research Institute of the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico. The views expressed in this document, which has been reproduced without formal editing, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization. …

Bridging infrastructural gaps in Central America: prospects and potential for maritime transport

Abstract Central America needs a regular, flexible, safe and affordable infrastructure and transport services in order to prevail over the existing bottlenecks and constrained intra-regional trade patterns. This need is widely recognized to achieve a sustained economic development, both national and regionally. Today, Central American countries face the following problems in their transport systems: lack of sufficient transport infrastructure and high transport costs. These problems have led to a decline in the competitiveness of the regional economies and sluggish economic growth …

Major statistical publications- abstracts. Vol VIII

CEPAL Review no.86

Methodology for the comparison of military expenditures

Executive summary The objective of this report is to assess the extent to which the standardized methodology developed by ECLAC for Argentina and Chile in 1999-2001 is applicable to comparisons among other countries, as well as the adaptations that may be needed for that purpose, and to develop an expanded and more general methodology for the comparison of military expenditure (or defence spending);. For this purpose, the present report consists of six chapters and six annexes. Chapter I, Introduction: setting the stage , seeks to place the issue of measuring military exp…