The impact of COVID-19 on transport and logistics connectivity in the landlocked countries of South America

Given their geographic situation, landlocked developing countries have been hit doubly hard by the cross-border processes implemented to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This research provides a detailed explanation of the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the areas of international trade and transport adopted by the Governments of the Plurinational State of Bolivia and of Paraguay to limit the effects of the pandemic on trade operations and supply chains in their countries. It also provides a set of policy recommendations to preserve and improve trade facilitation and …

A stock-flow approach to investment requirements within balance-of-payments constrained growth

According to the balance-of-payments constrained growth model, an expansion of aggregate domestic demand is effective in increasing the long-run rate of growth of an economy to the extent that the performance of the external sector validates it. While the performance of the domestic economy is intertwined with that of the external sector, the balance-of-payments constraint on growth does not make these relationships explicit. This document addresses this issue and proposes a framework to make explicit the investment requirements with balance-of-payments constrained growth. This is done in two …

Continuity of household surveys after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic

In the context of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is preparing a series of short publications with key policy recommendations for this period. This note, the third on household surveys, offers some considerations regarding the continuity of this type of statistical instrument in a context of initial lifting of the restrictions on movement in the region that were put in place to contain the spread of the pandemic.…

Impact of the ASEAN Economic Community and implications for Latin America

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has become one of the most important players in the global trading system. Comprising 10 countries with very diverse income levels, ASEAN is now the world’s fifth largest economy and plays a central role in the so-called “Factory Asia”. This document begins with an overview of the history and institutions of ASEAN, before focusing on one of its three pillars: the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), including a critical assessment of outcomes in the areas of trade in goods, trade in services and investment, among others. The document draws best pra…

Cybersecurity in the time of COVID-19 and the transition to cyberimmunity

This FAL Bulletin forms part of the Reflections on Disruptive Technologies in Transport that often appear in Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) publications. On this occasion, it examines the importance of cybersecurity from a logistical standpoint, especially in the current context of a pandemic.…

The outlook for oceans, seas and marine resources in Latin America and the Caribbean: Conservation, sustainable development and climate change mitigation

Oceans are a vast source of solutions and opportunities which, unfortunately, are currently invisible, at risk or underutilized. For Latin America and the Caribbean, this reality is significant —more than 27% of the region’s population lives in coastal areas; the sea accounts for a larger share of territory than land for most countries, especially in the Caribbean; and the oceans are home to extraordinary biodiversity. Still, we are not yet on a path to achieving the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 14 relating to life below water. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carib…

Risks of the COVID-19 pandemic for the exercise of women’s sexual and reproductive rights

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the effects of the measures taken by governments to control its rapid spread have affected most of the world’s population. The United Nations, governments and different civil society organizations, the academic and scientific world and other development actors have warned of the differentiated consequences of the pandemic, which has widened existing gaps between men and women in a number of dimensions. They have accordingly advocated the incorporation of a gender equality perspective into policies, measures and programmes aimed at mitigating and …

U.S. Economic Outlook: Third Quarter 2020

The U.S. economy expanded at a 33.1% annual rate in the third quarter of 2020, following a decline of 31.4% in the second quarter and 5% in the first. The third-quarter gain reversed about 75% of the prior decline. The pandemic has created unprecedented volatility in economic growth this year, with the record-shattering decline in real GDP in the second quarter followed by a similarly record-breaking gain in the third. Economic forecasts project a slowdown in the final quarter of the year, however, because of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and some tighter restrictions that have been imple…

Violence against children and adolescents in the time of COVID-19

This document examines the exacerbation of risks and the erosion of protection factors relating to physical, psychological and sexual violence in the home experienced by adolescents and children, especially girls, within the context of COVID-19 in the region. It also provides recommendations on the integration of concrete actions into the response mechanisms developed by Latin American and Caribbean States to address the COVID-19 crisis.…

Impact of COVID-19 on transport and logistics connectivity in the Caribbean

Given their small size and geographic isolation, Caribbean countries are highly reliant on trade and tourism as important sources of income and employment. Lockdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have left islands closed, airports without flights, hotels shuttered, cruise ships docked in ports and economies in crisis. This research provides a detailed explanation of the responses to COVID-19 in the areas of international trade and transport adopted by English-speaking countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to limit the effects of the pandemic on trade operations and supply chain…

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, and options for a sustainable and resilient recovery

Since April, tourism in the region has almost come to a temporary standstill as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This temporary paralysis has not only hit Caribbean economies and employment hard, but also many local communities in Latin America. Tourism accounts for half of services exports in Latin America and the Caribbean and represents significant shares of gross domestic product (GDP) and employment. An impact scenario shows that the slump in tourism may cause total GDP growth in the Caribbean and Latin America to fall by 8 percentage points and 1 percentage point,…

Challenges for the protection of older persons and their rights during the COVID-19 pandemic

The health and economic crisis like no other in the past 100 years that has been caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has thrown socioeconomic inequalities and unequal access to health and social protection services into even sharper relief. It has also posed socioeconomic challenges that expose the most vulnerable groups in the population to even more severe risks and adversities than they were already facing. One of the most vulnerable groups is older persons, whose quality of life and rights are being directly impacted by the pandemic. Scientific evidence on the evolution of the pandemi…

Social protection for families with children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean: An imperative to address the impact of COVID-19

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have predicted that the social and economic effects of the ongoing pandemic will have a significant impact on the well-being of families with children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, children and adolescents were already a highly vulnerable population group, suffering a higher incidence of poverty than other age groups and affected by numerous inequalities in various dimensions. Not only does the current emergency threaten fami…

Absolute convergence in manufacturing labour productivity in Mexico, 1993–2018: A spatial econometrics analysis at the state and municipal level

This paper examines absolute manufacturing labour productivity convergence across Mexican states and municipalities between 1993 and 2018, using census data and employing spatial econometric techniques. It applies a novel approach (spatial econometrics and disaggregation at the municipal level) to show that there is absolute convergence in manufacturing productivity at both the state and municipal levels. The results show that there are significant productivity spillovers among states and municipalities; that is, high-level productivity states or municipalities have positive impacts on the pro…

Statistical Bulletin: International Trade in Goods in Latin America and the Caribbean - second quarter 2020 - 40

The Hummingbird Vol. 7 No. 12

Ongoing challenges to ports: the increasing size of container ships

This FAL Bulletin examines the dynamics of the increase in vessel size worldwide and the factors that explain it, and subsequently provides projections regarding the arrival of the largest ships currently in service to South American shores with a view to facilitating port planning.…

Building Resilience across the Caribbean Post-COVID-19

Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC2022)

Addressing violence against women and girls during and after the COVID-19 pandemic requires FINANCING, RESPONSES, PREVENTION AND DATA COMPILATION

Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared on 11 March 2020, in Latin America and the Caribbean, as in other world regions, it has been necessary to address a rise in gender-based violence against women and girls, which has been aggravated by the lockdown measures, physical distancing and mobility restrictions that have left women more isolated from their support networks and created additional barriers in access to essential services. Faced with this global emergency, 146 Member States and observer States have expressed their support for the United Nations Secretary-General’s call in April 2020…