This article analyses the recent establishment of quasi-markets in the field of public health in Costa Rica through the internal separation of the functions of collection of contributions, financing, purchasing and the provision of services in the Costa Rican Social Security Fund; the application of a new financing model; and the introduction of management contracts with hospitals and health areas as a key instrument for allocating and transferring resources as a function of performance and fulfilment of goals. The context and bases of the management reform are examined, and a description is g…
This article contends that the rapid development of Latin America and the Caribbean --a region rich in natural resources-- will depend on how fast it learns to industrialize and process its natural resources and to develop the necessary input suppliers, engineering services and equipment for this. Consequently, this will not be a form of development based on the mere extraction of natural resources, as at present, but rather one based on the processing of such resources and the development of the activities that naturally tend to spring up and concentrate around this base (production complexes…
This article seeks to summarize the results of some studies on the structure and dynamics of the big domestically owned industrial companies and groups in five Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico); and presents supplementary elements for placing them in an overall perspective. The studies include individual analyses of 46 leading companies (in Brazil, Chile and Colombia); and 15 economic groups with an industrial base (in Brazil and Mexico);, together with aggregated studies of such groups in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. In all cases, the studies were based…
This article analyses the economic rationale of Brazil's tariff policy during the first two years of the Plano Real. To this end, a study is made of the changes made in import duties for all the products traded. The tariff reform process in Brazil was begun in 1988, after the old Tariff Act had been in effect for thirty years, and represented a marked intensification in the process of trade openness, with the definition of a schedule of gradually decreasing tariffs which was further speeded up as from 1990. The Plano Real began in July 1994 and had many effects on import policy. The trade…
The Latin American and Caribbean region will remember 1998 as one of the most problematic years of recent times. The severe effects of the international financial crisis that broke out in Asia in mid-1997 restricted the region's access to external financing. Tumbling export prices translated into the first drop in the value of the countries' exports to be recorded so far this decade, and this in turn led to a further deterioration in the current account of the balance of payments. Faced with this bleak outlook on the external front, economic authorities displayed a strong determinati…
Resumen El año 1998 será recordado como uno de los años más complejos que ha conocido América Latina y el Caribe en los últimos tiempos. Los efectos de la crisis financiera internacional que comenzó en Asia a mediados de 1997 fueron severos y restringieron el acceso al financiamiento externo. La caída de los precios de las exportaciones se tradujo en una disminución del valor de las ventas externas de los países de la región por primera vez en el presente decenio, que provocó un nuevo deterioro de la cuenta corriente del balance de pagos. Ante este panorama externo sombrío, las autoridades eco…
Introduction
Since the first version issued in 1997, the Directory of national organizations dealing with programmes and policies on women in Latin America and the Caribbean (LC/L.1065); lists national authorities for the advancement of women and gender equity, specific programmes organized by ministries of foreign affairs and other official bodies responsible for women's issues at the sectoral level in each member State and associate members of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);. For the purposes of this update, countries were once again requested to pr…
Introduction
Since the first version issued in 1997, the Directory of national organizations dealing with programmes and policies on women in Latin America and the Caribbean (LC/L.1065); lists national authorities for the advancement of women and gender equity, specific programmes organized by ministries of foreign affairs and other official bodies responsible for women's issues at the sectoral level in each member State and associate members of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);. For the purposes of this update, countries were once again requested to pr…
Resumen Este documento tiene por propósito examinar algunos antecedentes sobre el mercado y el sistema de derechos de aguas en Chile. A pesar de que durante las últimas décadas en muchos países de la región se han implementado reformas de políticas tendientes a liberalizar los mercados y eliminar las intervenciones estatales directas, quizás Chile sea el único país en desarrollo que cuenta con un sistema de derechos de aguas en el que se hace hincapié en la liberalización de este mercado. Se describen, por lo tanto, las principales características del Código de Aguas chileno y las institucione…