State of broadband in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017

The development of the Internet and its progress continues in Latin America and the Caribbean.However, despite these advances, problems related to the quality and equality of Internet access remain pending.Likewise, differences persist in Internet access between rural and urban areas, and between quintiles of income distribution.In the country with the greatest gap between urban and rural areas, the difference in penetration is 40 p.p. and the average in the region is 27 p.p. In terms of income, the gaps between the households of the richest quintile in relation to the poorest quintile reach u…

Regional digital market: Strategic aspects

This document identifies certain barriers and obstacles to the expansion of the digital economy in the region, proposes some strategic lines of action and presents a set of objectives aimed at guiding policy decisions regarding connectivity, electronic commerce, postal performance, consumer protection, digital financial inclusion and online means of payment and cybersecurity, in addition to reviewing chapters pertaining digital matters of regional economic integration agreements.…

Data, algorithms and policies: Redefining the digital world

The convergence of the physical and digital worlds is shaping an ecosystem whose dynamics are redefining the economic and social development model. This document analyses the Internet of Things, blockchain and artificial intelligence, and their transformative potential. It studies two enablers of these technologies: global digital platforms and training for upgrading human resources, and analyses the impact of these and other digital technologies on manufacturing and advanced services, and on digital financial technology (fintech) firms. It concludes with a reflection on the implications of ar…

Latin American Economic Outlook 2018: Rethinking Institutions for Development

This document focuses on how institutions can underpin the foundations of a long period of sustained and inclusive growth and increased well-being. The report begins with an overview of the main macroeconomic challenges, analysing the complex macroeconomic context in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, and exploring policy options to boost potential growth, with a particular focus on trade. It then analyses the link between low trust and society’s disconnection and dissatisfaction with institutions and a number of long-standing, structural features of the region as well as more recent, …

Annotated Provisional agenda. Sixth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean

ECLAC keynotes for development No 3: Foreign Direct Investment

FDI inflows in Latin America and the Caribbean have been declining since their peak in 2011, and we estimate a further drop in 2017.…

A study on the creative industry as a pillar of sustained growth and diversification : the film and music sectors in Jamaica : lessons from case studies of successful firms and ventures

This study identifies the critical success factors that have resulted in the global competitiveness and sustainability of individuals, firms and ventures within the music and film subsectors in Jamaica. To anchor the study of the individual firms and ventures, the study first evaluates the historical evolution and recent trends in the development of the music and film subsectors, including their economic contribution and the main challenges and opportunities for their further development and lessons learned.…

Provisional agenda. Sixth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean

CEPAL Review no. 123

Financial inclusion of small rural producers

There is mounting empirical evidence that the responsible provision and use of formal financial services have a positive impact on household well-being and enterprise performance. At the individual level, financial inclusion benefits rural households and small producers by facilitating the safe accumulation of assets, enabling them to leverage those assets in order to invest in human and physical capital, and supporting better risk management. The positive effects at the aggregate level are associated with better allocation of scarce resources among different activities. Despite recent progres…

ECLAC keynotes for development No 1: Foreign Direct Investment

ECLAC keynotes for development offers briefs on the crucial issues of development in the region that form part of the ongoing work of ECLAC. This first edition presents the key messages of ECLAC's recent publication Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017.…

The Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas: A Perspective on Latin America and the Caribbean 2017-2018

This document, result of a joint effort by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), analyzes the main changes that have taken place in agriculture and the rural milieu during the 2016-2017 period. It also considers the prospects and main trends in the region, in a context characterized by a slow and uneven global economic recovery in 2016, but with signs of an economic upturn in 2017, and by a continuous reduction in poverty, the poverty…

Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017

This publication sets out and analyses the main foreign direct investment (FDI) trends in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The 2017 edition shows that the region is at a difficult juncture. FDI inflows declined by 7.9% in 2016, to US$ 167.043 billion, representing a cumulative fall of 17.0% since the peak in 2011. The fall in commodity prices continues to affect investments in natural resources, sluggish economic growth in several countries has slowed the flow of market-seeking capital, and the global backdrop of technological sophistication and expansion of the digital econom…

CEPAL Review no. 122

Rural industrial policy and strengthening value chains

Rural areas have undergone major changes in recent decades, such as the declining share of agricultural jobs and added value in total economic activity, the greater interdependency between the agricultural sector and other sectors (manufacturing and services), and the increasing importance of learning and innovation processes. Notwithstanding these changes, rural areas are still heavily represented in the economic structure of Latin America and the Caribbean. This book underscores the need for a rural industrial policy that promotes a structural change based on innovation, greater value added …

Labour issues in the digital economy

Digital work platforms are transforming labor markets around the world. Firms that own, manage and deploy these work platforms have reframed employer–worker relations by defining their core business as the provision of the technology that enables certain services to be provided rather than the provision of those services, and offering their workers independent contractor arrangements rather than employee contracts. This has significant consequences in terms of wages, jobs security and other working conditions. Digital work platforms also increase worker welfare by offering unparalleled flexibi…

Micro-macro interactions, growth and income distribution revisited

The international economy is marked by major asymmetries in technological capabilities and power, both at the domestic and international levels —a point emphasized by the structuralist tradition. These asymmetries strongly affect economic outcomes and place major constraints on economic policy. This working paper discusses how the microeconomics of learning interacts with structural change and the evolution of aggregate demand to generate either virtuous paths of economic development or vicious circles of underdevelopment and lagging behind. Some implications of these growth paths for the inte…

Strengthening cooperation between telecommunications operators and national disaster offices in Caribbean countries

In Caribbean countries, modern telecommunications infrastructure is vulnerable to an array of natural disasters, as exemplified by the impacts of Tropical Storm Erika in Dominica, Hurricane Joaquin in the Bahamas, and Hurricane Earl in Belize. At the same time, telecommunications service —especially mobile telephony and data services— can provide invaluable support to disaster management efforts by facilitating communication, coordination, and intelligence collection during emergency situations. Thus, as a matter of public safety, ensuring the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure in…

Chinese Investments in Latin America: Opportunities for growth and diversification

China has become the third largest source of FDI in the world, only behind the United States and Japan. Chinese outward FDI continues to grow every year, but inflows into Latin America have remained stagnant since the year 2010 when a large wave of acquisitions introduced many Chinese companies to the region. They also remain very concentrated on the extraction of natural resources and in a handful of countries. Slower growth in China, and lower commodity prices may force some Chinese companies to change their strategy and start looking for overseas markets in new sectors, particularly in serv…

CEPAL Review no.121