Social stratification under tension in a globalized era

The objective of this paper is to explore the effects of globalization on the labour market and social stratification. It is generally held that globalization will bring about progress for nations and people. This, however, is far from clear, since the experience of almost two decades has been raising increasing doubts about the potential net gains and, particularly, the distribution of such gains. Clearly, there are winners and losers among both countries and people. We will concentrate on the effects upon people within countries and refer only to one region: Latin America. Our aim is to iden…

Employment trends in Latin America and the Caribbean during the 1990s

The economic reforms applied in the region during the 1980s and 1990s created expectations, for which there was theoretical justification, of strong job creation and greater equity in the labour market. This article analyses developments in the quantity and characteristics of employment during the 1990s. It concludes that today's labour market problems are due to insufficient economic growth and to less intensive use of labour, resulting mainly from changes in tradable goods-producing activities. Modernization of production methods in companies and sectoral restructuring that increased th…

Long-term planning: institutional action and restructuring in the Caribbean

Abstract The region ended the 1990s with mixed results in the area of economic and social planning. The outcomes of planning exercises have varied depending on what is understood by the planning process or system in each country (agents, agencies, subjects, knowledge, political agenda, procedures, resource-allocation, target-image, institutional framework and others). On point that does emerge, however, is the need for the State to have an agency or representative through which it can perform basic, irreplaceable planning duties, whatever the style of development or reform adopted. These inclu…

International capital flows to Latin America

Summary Capital flows returned to the Latin American in the 1990s after nearly a decade-long of the so-called debt crisis that featured a negative transfer of resources. These new capital flows were closely related to the economic reform process in the region. On the one hand, the reforms were a source of attraction for foreign investors. On the other hand, they helped the reforms succeed by relieving the external constraint that depressed growth during the 1980s. Nevertheless, the new inflows also created problems. While average inflows in the 1990s were very similar to the amounts received b…

Automatic fiscal stabilizers

In this article, indicators of fiscal discretionality are estimated using a simple methodology, and in this way the cyclical component of the public accounts balance (i.e., the amounts of income and expenditure associated with transitory movements of the level of activity); is identified for a number of Latin American countries in the 1990s. The difference gives a measure of the discretional balance, which represents a medium-term indicator of the state of the public accounts. Budgetary rules which take account of these mechanisms not only ensure sustainability over time but also reduce the cy…

The equity gap: a second assessment

Second regional conference in follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development. Santiago, Chile, 15-17 May 2000 Summary The courses of action recommended at the World Summit for Social Development coincide with the general thrust of the action taken by the Governments of the region in the economic and social spheres during the 1990s. The objective of this document is to weigh the positive and negative aspects of the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean with regard to poverty reduction, productive job creation and social integration within the wider context of economic changes and s…

Part-time work in Chile: is it precarious employment?: reflections from a gender perspective

Abstract Economic globalization has had a variety of consequences for employment including changes in labour market structure, making way for new non-standard (or atypical ) forms of employment. These are often associated with low-quality employment, to such an extent that the concepts non-standard forms of employment and precarious employment are used as synonymous expressions. The literature shows that women have been affected the most by these changes. This study considers a particular example of non-standard employment: part-time work in Chile. The …

Financial globalization and the emerging economies

This document has been prepared and published jointly by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); and the International Jacques Maritain Institute. Its contents were edited by José Antonio Ocampo, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);; Stefano Zamagni, Professor of Economics at the University of Bologna; Ricardo Ffrench-Davis, Principal Regional Adviser of ECLAC; and Carlo Pietrobelli, Professor of Development Economics at the University of Molise, Campobasso. Foreword Financial globalization has been a most dyna…

Trade and investment promotion between Asia-Pacific and Latin America: present position and future prospects

Abstract This document provides an overview of trade relations between Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and explores the possibilities for expanding the modalities of economic relations between the two regions. The analysis covers 12 countries in Asia and Oceania and 11 members of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA). Interregional cooperation in trade and investment has been on the agendas of countries in both regions for some time. It is often expressed that the present economic relations between the two regions do not reflect the potential for interregional trade and inve…

Belize: assessment of the damage caused by hurricane Keith, 2000: implications for economic, social and environmental development

Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe 1999 = Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean 1999

La edición 1999 del Anuario estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe contiene una selección actualizada a comienzos de diciembre de las principales series estadísticas disponibles sobre la evolución económica y social de los países de la región. Representa un sistemático esfuerzo de la División de Estadística y Proyecciones de la CEPAL, orientado a homogeneizar las cifras y a hacerlas internacionalmente comparables. uarios en forma oportuna. La primera parte comprende indicadores socioeconómicos derivados (tasas de crecimiento, proporciones o coeficientes), que representan una visión resumida…