Revista de la CEPAL no.56

Democracy and development

Address delivered by H.E. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, on the occasion of his visit to ECLAC Headquarters Santiago, Chile, 3 March 1995. Document is available for download.…

Can growth and equity go hand in hand?

This article presents the issue in the context of the theoretical and empirical debate, started by Kuznets, on the possibility of achieving growth with equity. The conclusion is that there is no inevitable conflict between these two goals, provided that economic policy promotes the areas of complementarity between growth and equity. It therefore rejects the approaches which assume that there is an insoluble conflict between these objectives, such as the trickle-down theory (which stoically accepts that such a conflict exists and proposes that those affected should wait as long as i…

Pension system reform in Latin America

When reforming pension systems, the arguments used must be carefully studied, since changes may involve substantial economic, social and political costs. The reforms which are being carried out in the region reflect this dilemma and are the result of various compromises affecting the new system as regards: i); the degree to which the benefits provided by the system and the administration of its reserve funds are isolated from the political process; ii); the necessary regulation and supervision of the markets with which the system interacts in order to effect the financial intermediation of its…

Recent economic trends in China and their implications for trade with Latin America and the Caribbean

Among the East and Southeast Asian economies often regarded as the most successful showcases, the People's Republic of China (PRC); occupies an outstanding place. This economy has one of the fastest growing GNPs in the world, and its outward orientation in the post-Mao Zedong era has made the country a significant world trade partner, so that the question of whether or not the economy stays on its sustained growth path will affect the welfare of the world economy in its entirety, including Latin America. The deepening of the ongoing economic reforms, coupled with prudent macro policies, s…

Economic relations between Latin America and the high-performing Asian developing economies

This study examines South-South economic relations in the context of regionalism. It covers three Latin American countries and eight high-performing Asian developing economies. Although the level of trade and investment between these two groups is currently very low, trade is growing fast and there are indications that the potential for continued growth exists. Although regionalism is advancing in both these parts of the world, it has so far not affected the ties between the two groups of countries, and in fact inter-regional trade growth has recently been exceeding intra-regional …

Globalization and restructuring the energy sector in Latin America

This article analyses the main manifestations of the globalization process and its implications in terms of the restructuring of energy markets. The reforms now being undertaken by the countries of the region are being pursued within the context of an economic paradigm with ramifications at the international level which assigns high priority to the liberalization and/or privatization of public utilities, and this, in turn, can be expected to engender new savigs/investment strategies based on the relatively more stable nature of income flows from energy activities. The introduction of competiti…

The kaleidoscope of competitiveness

Competitiveness has become one of the main standards governing the ever-changing interplay of interests at the international level. Trade liberalization, structural adjustments, the retooling of production, intelligent coexistence with our natural resources, the struggle to eliminate poverty --all are viewed, in one way or another, through the prism of competitiveness. This has transformed competitiveness into some sort of compulsory principle by which international status is measured and which influences the formulation and implementation of business strategies and national polici…

The privatization of public water utilities

Latin America has kept in step with the worldwide trend towards the privatization of public utilities. Its motivation for doing so stems from a number of factors: an economic philosophy, its quest for greater efficiency, macroeconomic situations, debt-equity swaps, decisions to bring private capital into the management of public utilities during times of economic crisis, and others. This article analyses the characteristics and components of public utilities, the differences existing between one utility and another (particularly in terms of their capital/revenue ratio);, the rigidity of supply…

How much can we spend on education?

The technology employed by Latin America's educational systems was developed by the countries which are now industrialized. This technology is labour-intensive, with expenditures being concentrated in the salaries of teaching staff and administrative personnel, and its effective utilization -as it is applied in the industrialized countries- entails a high level of expenditure per student. In line with recommendations made by international agencies, many Governments in the region have voiced their intention to raise the amount they spend on education to between 6% and 8% of the gross domes…

Informe sobre la competitividad internacional de las zonas francas en la República Dominicana

La medición de las necesidades básicas insatisfechas en los censos de población

Determinantes del tipo de cambio real de equilibrio en Perú: 1980-1994

Cuba: evolución económica durante 1994

Economic relations between Latin America and the European Union

Two opposing trends are currently shaping relations between the European Union and Latin America. On the one hand, political signals in both regions are positive and point the way to closer ties in the future; on the other hand, the situation with regard to the Union's trade with Latin America has worsened appreciably, with the region's trade surplus giving way to a deficit for the first time in four decades. This trend may jeopardize the progress made thus far. If we do not act now, trade-related tensions, the reduction of development assistance and the appearance of social or envir…

Economic survey of Puerto Rico, 1994

Summary report of the Caribbean meeting of experts on Implementation of the SIDS Plan of Action

The Caribbean Meeting of Experts on Implementation of the SIDS Programme of Action, held at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 17-19 May 1995 was convened to review progress towards implementation of the SIDS Programme of Action (SIDS-POA), to discuss constraints on the effective implementation of the Programme and to agree on priority areas for action. It was organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean/Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (ECLAC/CDCC), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme’s Special Unit …

Descripción de los indicadores de ingresos y salarios y su implementación en el Uruguay

RESUMEN El presente trabajo tiene por objeto -en el marco del Seminario sobre Indicadores Socioeconómicos del Uruguay, organizado por el Centro Latinoamericano de Economía Humana (CLAEH);- contribuir a la discusión y análisis de la metodología estadística utilizada para la elaboración de indicadores ampliamente utilizados por los actores sociales y económicos, y que inciden definitivamente en sus decisiones y en la interpretación que estos realizan de la realidad socioeconómica nacional. El documento aborda inicialmente la temática desde una perspectiva normativa (I. Definiciones relacionadas …

Perfil de la inserción externa y conducta exportadora de las pequeñas y medianas empresas industriales argentinas

Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio es analizar el perfil de la inserción externa y la conducta exportadora de las firmas pequeñas y medianas argentinas en los últimos años. La hipótesis que orienta este análisis es que las Pymes exportadoras conforman un grupo fuertemente heterogéneo y que la peformance exportadora está escasamente vinculada a la dinámica del sector industrial al que pertenecen las firmas. La investigación está basada en un relevamiento efectuado a 170 Pymes exportadoras durante el segundo semestre de 1994 en el marco del Programa de Fortalecimiento de las Exportaciones llev…

Uruguay: agenda social 1995