This issue of the Gender Dialogue focuses on two programmatic areas of
ECLAC’s work over recent years, namely (i) integrating gender into macroeconomic policy and (ii) the use of gender
indicators in public policy-making. In its work on integrating gender into macroeconomic
policy, the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean conducted
a study to determine the capacity of economic planning units in selected
countries of the subregion to integrate gender into the macreconomic planning
process and the findings are highlighted below. The study is intended to assist in the
development of a…
This paper presents a discussion of the major methodological issues relating to some key studies assessing the employment effects of a particular PTA using different methodologies (General and Partial Equilibrium, Gravitational models, Micro simulations, Econometrics using panel data, etc.). In this line, the paper discusses an accounting model for decomposing the ex - post employment performance as related to Latin America Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), proposing this method to evaluate the Chile - Mexico PTA as an illustration. The paper defines a research agenda using an Employment e…
Hubert Escaith is Director of the Division of Statistics and Economic Projections of ECLAC. These methodological notes were prepared for a lecture at the 2005 ECLAC Summer School. They are based on, and up-date, a series of papers in Spanish published in 2003 and 2004, which received in 2005 the award Maestro Jesus Silva Herzog from Economic Research Institute of the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico. The views expressed in this document, which has been reproduced without formal editing, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization. …
This research produced evidence about the contribution of investment and other sources to the growth process of Latin America during 1960-2002, and provided answers to the questions listed above unless from an historical perspective. The combined growth accounting and regression analysis, and used data for the six largest Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. These countries produce nearly 90 per cent of Latin America's GDP. Alternative growth accounting methodologies were used to measure the contributions of the sources of growth to GDP gro…
Jamaica has abundant renewable energy sources (RES), which have hardly been tapped in the past and could provide for large shares of the future energy requirements. In 2005, around 5% of the expected 4,020 GWh of electricity produced will be based on RES (wind and hydropower). With the new planned target of a share of 15% RES electricity by 2012, a combined renewable capacity of about 175 MW would need to be installed in that year. There is further wind potential on Jamaica, even if no exact figures can be given on the magnitude of the exploitable wind potential. Nonetheless, it seems realisti…
CONTENTS I.North American ‘Great Lakes Annex’ released .II. Parliament in Argentine Province approve s new bill to protect the Guaraní Aquifer.III.United States - Mexico water treaty dispute.IV. International Economic Law, Water for Money’s sake.V. The Human Right to Water: Legal and Policy DimensionsThestatements and opinions reported in this Newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or official positions of the United Nations, and are to be exclusively attributed to authors, organizations and media quoted or summarized in the Newslett…
The problem of social security for women in Latin America has not yet been resolved. The recent pension reforms have not contributed to solving it but have, in fact, made individuals more vulnerable in terms of social safety nets. In other words, the inequity typical of the region's social security systems has been compounded by new forms of inequity that have emerged along with the reforms.
The specific objective of this study is to analyze ways in which the principles of obligatory affiliation to the system enshrined in the pension legislation may be reconciled with inequalities inheren…
Abstract The Chilean wine industry performed remarkably well over the past decades. Wines from Chile have found their way to consumers all over the world. This paper explores the factors that have supported the successful performance. In particular, through a questionnaire to key informants it tries to measure to what extent conscious collective action by local stakeholders to solve common problems of the industry in Chile and thereby create a shared basis for upgrading, have been relevant. The conclusion is that natural endowments, commercial and technological impulses from abroad and a favo…
This paper stems from the debate on food security that has been under way since the World Food Summit of 1996.
It discusses the viability of a type of programmatic proposal deriving from the Rome Declaration and Plan of Action
signed by the Governments of 148 countries, and it suggests that the implementation of the Plan of Action requires
the establishment of a structural link between the population affected by food insecurity -usually unable to make its
views known or exert pressure- and the various authorities responsible for initiating public action. The central
hypothesis of this paper is…
This article examines the unsuccessful attempts made in the 1990s to introduce a market for water in Peru. This reform was thwarted because market operations were identified with water rights privatization, even though a market can perfectly well operate on a basis other than that of private rights, with the State retaining full ownership of the resource. The argument made here is that if these shortcomings were corrected, the creation of a water market would be desirable to improve allocation and management of water and to deal with the increasingly serious difficulties associated with the ad…
What is poverty, how to measure it and how to tackle it, are the three questions to which this document responds, on the basis of the theoretical framework of gender studies.
The harmonization of policies for economic growth, social equity and gender equity is a challenge that can no longer be ignored.
Poverty is considered as the result of power relations that first of all affect men and women in a different way, but then also indigenous and Afro-descendent women, older adults and the inhabitants of certain areas. The multidimensional nature of this phenomenon is shown, as well as the virtues…
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, August 2002, responded to a new cycle of global meetings that began with the Millennium Summit. The main characteristic of this new cycle is that the focus of the debate has moved away from declarations of principle toward identifying objectives and areas of concrete action, with quantitative commitments and deadlines for compliance. Debates about energy held an important position in Johannesburg. The positive links between access to energy, eliminating poverty and improving People's health and quality of life were emphasi…
In the fourth quarter of 2003, net capital flows to emerging markets accelerated sharply to reach a 3-year high of US$187 billion, a 50% increase from the US$124 billion reached in 2002. This increase is the result of the combination of abundant global liquidity, strong economic growth, and the improving credit quality of borrowers in both mature and emerging markets. Emerging markets were favored by moderate volatility, low risk-free interest rates and rising commodity prices. In addition, a weak US dollar, solid cash flows and search for yield supported the rally to Latin American countries.…
This article aims to determine whether the geographical pattern
of the external trade of foreign-owned enterprises in Brazil differs
from that of domestic enterprises and whether, in the case of foreign
enterprises, the region of origin of their capital is an important factor
in determining that pattern, both in terms of the origin and
destination of their imports and exports and with regard to the
technological content of the pattern. The methodology employed
was panel analysis, applied to a representative set of enterprises,
using trade data broken down by region for 1989, 1997 and 2000.…
This paper examines the progress in the implementation of the CSME and what this has meant for the core (trade, investment, etc.); and functional aspects (foreign policy coordination, education, health and social development, etc.,); of integration. A tentative assessment is also made of the relevance of the current mode of integration in light of the opportunities and constraints of the international environment. The paper is divided into three sections. Section one provides a critical assessment of the implementation of the protocols and other aspects of the CSME. Section two evaluates the …
This paper provides an overview of the structure and performance of the Caribbean tourism sector. It evaluates the role of policies and strategies as they impact the growth and competitiveness of the sector. Although the paper is not definitive on the subject, it provides some initial work on aspects of the industry that are not the typical focus of research. These include industrial structure, evaluated in terms of size, concentration, economies of scale and scope, competition and market types, for example oligopoly. Further the paper, examines the concept of clusters as it applies to the in…
Stable development and financing of the social protection
system, one of the priorities of fiscal policy in Chile over
recent years, has helped to reduce poverty and indigence,
particularly since the 1990s. The fiscal accounts have been
managed prudently, and budgetary balance and efficient
administration have been given priority over short-term
objectives. Even so, poverty is still a fact of life and the
poor are still vulnerable to drastic falls in income. This means
that an effort is still required to modernize fiscal policy and
develop new institutional arrangements for the social
protecti…
In the first half of 2003, emerging debt markets rallied, as disillusionment with equities, geopolitical concerns, and doubts about growth prospects led investors to shift from equities in favor of fixed incomes securities. As equity prices in the United States struggled early in the year, and the price of U.S. Treasuries rose to a 40-year high, attention was drawn to emerging market assets. Emerging debt markets were driven by liquidity, rising risk tolerance, a search for yield and a wider investor acceptance of the asset class. As a consequence, credit spreads on emerging market bonds narr…
Summary In Latin America, energy efficiency and renewable energy offer great potential for reducing the negative effects of the ever-increasing rates of energy consumption associated with economic growth and the move towards more energy-intensive societal models. Despite over two decades of discussions aimed at giving energy efficiency and renewable energy more prominent positions in the energy policies of Latin American countries, little has been achieved so far. The fact that these issues have not been integrated into energy policies reflects, to a certain extent, a failure on t…
Executive Summary
One of the major challenges facing developing countries is to attain high levels of competitiveness in all areas in order to effect the necessary transformation of their production structures. Technological development and innovation are identified as key factors in the attempt to meet this challenge. In many ways technology, in the broadest sense, has become a sine qua non for attaining and
maintaining competitiveness, which is itself considered one of the imperatives of successful industrial development. Similarly, in the Caribbean, science and technology are identified as …