Criteria for the efficient coordination of the activities for data collection and the design of instruments for mapping and data collection applicable to countries of the Caribbean

The paper highlights the importance of good economic and social data to measure the change in the economy and the society in the light of external stimuli. It also highlights the need for governments to base policy decisions on good data. The paper discusses the issues of design and coordination of data collection mechanisms in a manner that optimizes the limited resources available for data collection and ensures that the data collected fit into an information mosaic that enables planning. To the extent that knowledge of self is the first step towards self-actualization, the success of any s…

Governance crisis and the Andean region: a political economy analysis

The Andean countries, a region with abundance of natural resources and other valuable assets, exhibit a variety of governance problems that hinder its potential for social peace, stability and economic prosperity. Their empirical governance record, based on historical and recent data, although varies from country to country has been characterized by political instability, considerable frequency of constitutional reforms, presidential crisis, volatility of democratic institutions and violence. In turn, the empirical evidence on quality of institutions put the Andean region in a relatively modes…

CEPAL Review no.79

The sustainability of development in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges and opportunities

Summary The original aim of this study was to serve as an input for the Regional Preparatory Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 23 and 24 October 2001. This document was produced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In preparing the study, national preparatory activities and inputs from subregional meetings were taken int…

The transformation of collective action in Latin America

We are witnessing the disappearance of the traditional paradigm that viewed the structural position as the determining factor in shaping collective action and social actors. Because of the structural and cultural changes that have occurred in the world and the region -the transformation of Latin America's weak national Statecentred industrial society and the break-up of the traditional relationships between State and society- collective action is tending to take shape mainly along four axes: political democratization; social democratization or the struggle against exclusion and for citize…

Information, information management and governance

Abstract This paper makes the link between information, its management and governance. It explores the literature in an attempt to gain an appreciation of what constitutes governance and extracts from that search a number of views. The paper is built in part around those views that in fact converge. Governance needs to be informed continually by information flows that are examined, digested and evaluated against the intended direction of government policy. The mechanics of establishing an effective information system are discussed against the background of an existing system that is unequal to…

CEPAL Review no.74

The fiscal impact of trade liberalization and commodity price fluctuation: the case of Dominican Republic, 1980-1998

Summary During the 1980's, the Dominican Republic made attempts at macroeconomic reform that saw little success. A decade later a stabilization and structural reform package was implemented. This package included, among other aspects, inflation control through monetary restraint and a tax and tariff reform which sought to increase the efficiency of the prevailing tax structure and eliminate its relative price distortion while maintaining fiscal equilibrium. Price stabilization was achieved, nominal import tariff rates were reduced and the economy started on a growth trajectory th…

ECLAC and its role in the reform process

The fiscal covenant: strengths, weaknesses, challenges

Quality management and competitiveness: the diffusion of the ISO 9000 standards in Latin America and recommendations for government strategies

Abstract Quality will play an increasingly important role in the objectives for the social and economic development of the countries in Latin America. This document aims to demonstrate the importance of quality in national strategies for increased productivity and competitiveness. Governments in the region have increasingly established programmes that promote and support the diffusion of quality management techniques. This tendency indicates that the diffusion of quality management innovations is complicated by market failures but is desirable from a national point of view. This document may t…

CEPAL Review no.63

A comparative study of health care policy in the United States and Canada: what policymakers in Latin America might and might not learn from their neighbors to the North

Abstract The purpose of this comparative study of the structure and operation of the health care systems in the United Stetes and Canada is to draw lessons from those experiences that may be relevant to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. First, the study examines the different sources of health-sector funding in the United States and Canada and the levels and types of coverage provided. The fact is brought out that per capita levels of expenditure in these two countries exceed per capita national income in much of the region. A comparison of the two systems shows that, although …

New directions for public management

Consideration of the roles to be played by the public and private sectors in a country's development strategy naturally leads to an analysis of the public sector's main orientations regarding both its own actions and the establishment of a regulatory framework for the performance of certain types of activities. These orientations are expressed through public policies, i.e., the courses of action followed by the public sector in pursuance of a more or less well-defined objective. The administration, made up of the various government ministries and departments, is what provides the ins…

CEPAL Review no.52

CEPAL Review no.46

CEPAL Review no.31

Aspectos financieros y administrativos 1978-1979

Progresos en América Latina y el Caribe en materia de implementación de las recomendaciones contenidas en el Capítulo 18 del Programa 21 sobre gestión integral de los recursos hídricos = Progress achieved by the Latin American and Caribbean countr...