Executive Summary This paper reviews trade policy regimes in CARICOM countries during the 1980s and 1990s. CARICOM trade policy regimes have undergone substantial changes in the 1990s reflecting the desire of the grouP's member countries to move away from inwardlooking to more outward-oriented growth and development. The growing recognition of the importance of export promotion policies led to the adoption of a programme for the Harmonization of Fiscal Incentives to Industry in 1993. All the CARICOM countries have introduced a series of export promotion measures, including fiscal incentiv…
Abstract Both in Asia Pacific and Latin America, considerable confusion and ambiguity surround the notion of 'open Regionalism' that question its relevance for practical purposes. Chapter I will examine various interpretations and applications of the concept and study under what circumstances the two elements 'open' and 'regionalism' come into contradiction. The chapter first put to provide some precision on the relationship that may exist between Open Regionalism and regional integration, and then it inquires of under what conditions regionalism can be a 'st…
The reforms made in the early 1980s profoundly changed the structure and functioning of the health sector in Chile in both the private and the public subsectors. In spite of the considerable advances made since 1990, however, the public-private configuration resulting from those reforms has not allowed the shortcomings in terms of resource allocation and the access of the population to health services to be overcome. A proposal for reform of the sector should be aimed at developing mechanisms to raise the efficiency and efficacy of the resources allocated to it, as well as incorporating and im…
1 Jun 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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Introduction
Based on the evidence of the last few decades, it is widely
accepted that the State can be an obstacle to development. The corollary to this, of course, is that public policy can play a pivotal role in creating a growth-oriented environment and in promoting change. Not surprisingly, the major thrust of the structural reforms of recent years has been in creating a more effective State that can work in partnership with the private sector for the public good. An appropriate regulatory and institutional framework is critical to the functioning of both the financial and real sectors. I…
1 Abr 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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The Latin American railways faced serious competition from another means of land transport for the first time in the 1930s, and one of the results of this was a significant loss of income from the transport of products of relatively high unit value. This income had covered their fixed costs in terms of management and infrastructure. The financial difficulties of the railway companies drove them to seek aid from the State sector, but in subsequent decades governments gradually lost interest in them because of their financial deficits and dwindling importance in the national economy. The service…
This article presents a methodological and empirical approach to the measurement of technological maturity in a process industry, such as petrochemicals, at the international level. The main conclusion is that the degree of technological maturity determined in the exercise may vary, depending on the indicator used for measuring the life cycle of the industry. This finding is very important because the conventional indicators of market dynamism or production do not always reflect the degree of technological maturity of an industry or sector. Since technology is a decisive factor in the degree o…
1 Nov 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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An ECLAC contribution to the meetings being held on the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); Buenos Aires, April 2001
Foreword
The Division of Integration and International Trade of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); has prepared this document on the basis of official figures provided by the countries and from documents produced by the Division of Economic Development, the Division of Social Development, and the Statistics and Economic Projections Division.
ECLAC, in its capacity as a member of the Tripartite Committee, the other members bei…
1 Oct 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:04
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Abstract The Chilean experience with price-based capital account regulations (i.e., deposits or reserve requirements on capital inflows) has been subject to extensive discussion in the recent literature. This paper presents evidence on the effectiveness of similar regulations in Colombia since September 1993, when traditional exchange controls were replaced by price-based regulations. It is important to emphasize that the Tobin tax equivalent of such regulations in Colombia has been quite high (13.6% and 6.4% tax for 12 and 36 months loans, respectively, in 1994-1998), and, as in Chile, it is …
1 Ago 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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This article seeks to rethink the conceptual framework for the formulation of industrial policy in the conditions currently being faced by most of the more industrialized countries of the region; it may be noted that the debate has very similar features in the economies at an intermediate level of industrial development too. The authors review the different theories on government intervention (section II); and the industrial policy arguments (section III);. They then consider the situation of the developing countries, taking a structuralist view (section IV); and the interaction of the macro- …
1 Ago 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:04
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This article analyses five types of international trade based on the competitive advantages afforded to under-developed countries by their environmental resources endowment. First of all, specialization of such countries in the production of highly polluting goods and services is studied, recalling the conventional specialization in the production and export of goods making intensive use of natural resources. The commercial exploitation of the recreational services of natural parks and the exploitation of biodiversity in pharmaceutical research is then referred to. The use for profit of some e…
1 Abr 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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This article deals with the need to make some changes in the focus of policies for rural development and the relief of poverty. After noting the limitations of the traditional approaches taken by such policies, it is suggested (among other things); that the territorial dimension should be incorporated in their design, and the macroeconomic context and sectoral environment which condition those policies in the case of agriculture are reviewed, with emphasis on the structural heterogeneity of the sector and the existence of imperfect markets (section I);. The article then deals with the limitati…
1 Abr 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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This article analyses the impact of public investment on private investment. Apart from purely ideological aspects, two opposing interpretations may be distinguished with regard to the relationship between these variables. The first is that there is competition between public and private investment, so that the former crowds out the latter. The second is that public investment is complementary to private investment in so far that, by generating positive externalities, it creates favourable conditions for the latter. In view of the relative scarcity of empirical studies on this matt…
1 Abr 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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Abstract This paper reviews the current controversy on the reform of the international financial architecture. The paper first identifies some basic assumptions that must be taken into account in any meaningful reform. Then it identifies basic areas of consensus among different analysts: the need to maintain expansionary policies in industrialized countries as long as the current uncertainty prevails; to develop adequate contingency financing for countries in difficulties; to improve the institutional framework in which financial markets operate; to create appropriate mechanisms to internalize…
This article analyses the reduction of labour costs as a factor which helps to raise the competitiveness of industrial enterprises. It first reviews non-wage labour costs, both for workers with permanent contracts and those with only temporary contracts, or with no contracts at all, in order to show the differences that exist in non-wage labour costs according to the type of contract of the workers or their unregistered status, and the impact of these differences on the labour costs for each type of worker and the average labour costs. It then goes on to consider the evolution of labour costs …
5 Oct 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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Introduction The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has been carrying out studies on the status of women in the region on a systematic basis since 1975. These studies, which are undertaken in response to ECLAC's concern to mainstream the gender perspective into its activities of research and cooperation for development, have covered a wide range of topics, including, inter alia, sociodemographic factors, the participation of women in education, in employment, in politics and in social movements, family responsibilities, gender violence and human rights and the protection o…
11 Jun 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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Summary
Most Caribbean countries have failed to attract or retain international investment on any large scale in their industrial sectors. This document advances 18 reasons for this, among them - limited access to technology, lack of awareness of world market opportunities and trends, and the inability to supply products in significant volume. The causes of these problems are identified and analysed. The education system; a lack of entrepreneurial spirit, unawareness of trends and opportunities; production hurdles for micro enterprises; poor investment climate; lack of standards, patent and…
CONTENTS I.Turkey to supply Israel’s Water Needs? II. Transboundary Water Issues: Iraq asks for water from Turkey.III.IDRC REPORTS: Laying a Foundation for Joint Management of the Israeli-Palestinian MountainAquifer.IV. Canadian Water, Canada’s Trade Obligations and B.C.Water Policy: Bulk water exports.V. Litigation over international water exports: Corporations are Suing Canada.VI. Indigenous Concerns over Large Scale Water Works and Development.VII. Mexico-USA: Binational Water Challenges and Opportunities Conference Recommendations.VIII.Nile Basin Initiative opens Secret…
1 Nov 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:09
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Abstract This paper has analyzed the changes in the distribution of income in Colombia since 1976 using data for urban economy (seven largest metropolitan areas) and for the manufacturing sector. Evidence is shown that the structural reforms that took place in the early 1990s have been related to higher income concentration in Colombia, where levels of inequality were already impressively high. The results suggest that both trade liberalization and skill complementary technological change have a positive impact on skill premiums. The evidence presented suggests that skill complementary technol…
1 Oct 1999, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 18:04
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Abstract This paper argues that the agenda for international financial reform must be broadened in at least two senses. First of all, it should go beyond the issues of financial prevention and resolution, to those associated with development finance for poor and small countries, and to the ownership of economic and development policies by countries. Secondly, it should consider, in a systematic fashion, not only the role of world institutions but also of regional arrangements and the explicit definition of areas where national autonomy should be maintained. These issues should be tabled in a r…
Abstract
This paper attempts to estimate the effect of trade liberalization on the industrial structure and pattern of pollution emissions in Brazil. An input-output approach is used to estimate the value of production and potential pollution intensity estimates are undertaken using the industrial pollution projection system. We find that the aggregate intensity of pollutant emission has decreased for the whole industrial sector, but for the export sector, the pollution intensity has been increasing after trade liberalization.…