CEPAL Review no.51

Revista de la CEPAL no.51

Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 1993

Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 1993

Flying geese or sitting ducks? Transnationals and industry in developing countries

The constitution of a new international industrial order dominated by a core of large transnational corporations generally makes life more difficult for the great majority of developing countries because, since most are not in a position to compete effectively, they face still greater marginalization. TNCS more than ever before can significantly influence the international competitiveness and therefore the nature of incorporation of developing countries into the new increasingly integrated international production system. The national origin and form of foreign direct investment and technology…

The challenge of industrial competitiveness

Latin American manufacturing industry has undergone various changes in recent years. It has registered a favourable performance as far as exports are concerned, but production and investment have grown only slowly in a context of sluggish recovery of domestic demand and greater foreign competition. Other features are greater specialization in natural resource-based intermediate goods characterized by the importance of economies of scale, relatively long lead times for the heavy investments required, and the presence of privatized and transnational enterprises. At the same time, there are signs…

Indigenous peoples and modernity

Many indigenous leaders and intellectuals in the region are asking themselves how the current rapid spread of free market principles and the process of integration into a single world economy is likely to affect their cultures. The answer depends on what we mean by culture and what we mean by modernity . Cultures are not rigid sets of traditional norms and values, but instead have a deep-seated logic and a whole constellation of alternative processes which, like constantly evolving computer programmes, give each culture considerable flexibility and capacity to adapt to c…

Capital flows and their effect on the monetary base

The large capital inflows into some Latin American countries since 1990 are a mixed blessing, for they widen the trade-off between disinflation at home and competitiveness abroad. A large part of the flows seems to be temporary rather than permanent. Permanent flows should be accommodated by an upward float of the currency, temporary flows by sterilized intervention on the foreign exchange market. Recent evidence suggests that sterilized intervention is more effective and carries lower fiscal costs than is often maintained. Asian policy practice suggests ways of sterilized intervention even wi…

Old and new trade policies

Latin American development strategies have historically been inextricably linked with trade theory and policy. The author's main argument is that the old infant industry and the new strategic trade arguments are fundamentally similar. Among their similarities is the justification of selective protection of certain economic sectors. Among their differences, the infant industry argument justifies temporary protection, while the argument in favour of strategic protection of certain industries justifies their protection on an indefinite basis. Yet, in the context of turning inward-oriented in…

Integration and trade diversion

Regional integration has once again become an important issue for Latin America and the Caribbean. Compared with previous experiences, however, recent integration commitments have a number of new aspects in such areas as negotiating procedures, the issues involved in the various agreements -some of which are as unprecedented as the adoption of common currencies, the creation of binational companies, common labour laws, etc.- and the actual timing of these steps. Among the various integration initiatives now being pursued, four are particularly important by virtue of the relative weight of the …

European integration and Latin American trade

Difficult as it is to forecast the magnitude of the impact of the Single European Market (SEM); on the rest of the world and on the European Community (EC); itself, the predominant feeling is one of concern, especially in the developing countries. This article seeks to determine how the completion of the SEM may affect Latin America's exports to the Community, using basically a short- and medium-term analytical approach. This is because a series of elements make it possible to predict with some confidence that the deepening of Community integration will take more time than originally fore…

Industrialización y Desarrollo Tecnológico. Informe no. 15

Consenso latinoamericano y del Caribe sobre población y desarrollo: la situación de la población y del desarrollo en América Latina y el Caribe a comienzos de los años noventa

El Estado en países desarrollados: la acción pública en Alemania, Estados Unidos, Francia y Japón: enseñanzas para América Latina

Dinamismo de las exportaciones centroamericanas: la experiencia de la década de los ochenta

Políticas de gestión integral del agua y políticas económicas

Resumen El presente documento se orienta al análisis de las denominadas políticas de recursos hídricos , para lo cual se describe en principio qué son, para qué sirven y qué las caracteriza. A continuación se exponen las tendencias en materia de formulación de políticas de aguas que se registran actualmente en algunos países de la región. Se distinguen las políticas de intención de las de ejecución y se establecen los elementos que las caracterizan: reglas básicas, principios de organización y procedimientos fundamentales. Luego se destaca la importancia de conciliar las característ…

Post modernismo territorial y globalización: regiones pivotales y regiones virtuales

Economic survey of Canada, 1992

La postcrisis: ¿una coyuntura favorable para la vivienda de los pobres?

Las principales deficiencias de las políticas habitacionales dicen relación con la insuficiencia de los fondos asignados al sector, la regresividad de los subsidios, el enfoque sectorialista, la tolerancia de mecanismos informales de provisión de vivienda, entre otras. La redefinición de las políticas con miras a mejorar la calidad de vida de los sectores más pobres requiere considerar tópicos tales como la eliminación de transferencias de fondos estatales a sectores medios y altos de ingresos, la búsqueda de medidas de disminución de los costos de la vivienda, el aumento del crédito externo p…

Mediciones de pobreza en Uruguay: aspectos metodológicos