Mechanisms of follow-up to the Programme of Action on Population and Development in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

Summary This document analyses the results of a survey conducted by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE); - Population Division of ECLAC in the framework of activities underway to develop systems of indicators for follow-up to the Programme of Action on Population and Development established at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD); of 1994, and to the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Plan of Action on Population and Development, which was approved in its final form in 1996. The data from this survey, which was conducted in late 2000, wa…

Status of implementation of the System of National Accounts (SNA) 1993 in selected Caribbean countries

Abstract The Caribbean countries have for decades been described as being data poor . The inability of the countries to provide, in a number of areas, data on certain issues of national or world importance has its roots in the poor information infrastructure that characterizes the Caribbean countries. The national accounts are designed to provide information on almost every aspect of national life that must be of interest to the administration and citizenry alike. This paper looks at the countries' implementation of the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA); from th…

Special and differential treatment in the FTAA

The need to devise an appropriate mechanism for the meaningful participation of smaller economies in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); has been recognized since the beginning of the process of integration in the Americas and was articulated in the Plan of Action and Declaration of the Summit of the Americas, held in Miami in December 1995 (1); . Since then, the San Jose Declaration (2); reiterated the commitment of the countries of the hemisphere to ensure the full participation of the smaller economies in the FTAA and increase their level of development. The declaration states that …

Quality of life: a compendium of social statistics of five Caribbean countries (1995-2001)

Abstract Quality of Life: A compendium of selected social statistics of five Caribbean countries (1995-2001), is the second in a series on social statistics to be published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean/Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (ECLAC/CDCC) secretariat. The first was published in December 1995, entitled Selected demographic and social statistics, 1960- 1994, and was based on the population census data. This compendium of selected social statistics of five Caribbean countries is the first output of the fully searchable subregional…

The impact of privatisation on the banking sector in the Caribbean

Introduction With the failure of the import-substituting industrialisation policies of the post-war period, Caribbean countries shifted to an export-promotion strategy in the 1980s. Export promotion inevitably demanded a shifting of the relative price and productivity of tradable goods and services. To provide the necessary incentives for export promotion, countries pursued a mixture of reforms and restructuring to attract investment and to promote the competitiveness of production and exchange. The period also coincided with a shift in the development paradigm of the developed countri…

Regional interdependencies and macroeconomic crises: notes on MERCOSUR

Abstract In the relatively short history of Mercosur, the countries of the region have gone through wide macroeconomic fluctuations. Macroeconomic turbulence is not a novelty for Argentina, Brazil and their partners, but it has shown different features in recent years, particularly concerning the strength and nature of regional spillovers. Despite the asymmetries in size among the economies of the area and the low starting levels of trade, the rapid growth of intra-regional commerce until the last few years, and the feeling that there was a 'mercosur component' in the intern…

Macroeconomic policies in the Caribbean

The concern with a gender dimension of macroeconomic policy stems from the mandate of the Beijing conference to review and implement policies aimed at achieving equitable access to economic resources. This paper examines some of the macroeconomic policies pursued in the Caribbean within the context of economic adjustment in order to understand the rationale for these polices to see whether and how gender analysis could contribute to a more equitable outcome. The aims and goals of macroeconomic policy are explained, against the background of the economic problems faced by the region since 1970.…

El turismo rural en Chile: experiencias de agroturismo en las regiones del Maule, la Araucanía y Los Lagos

Resumen El turismo rural y sus encadenamientos hacia los proveedores de insumos y servicios ha surgido en varios foros como propuesta para diversificar la economía rural y crear empleos e ingresos adicionales. En efecto, las experiencias de turismo rural y agroturismo en Chile han tenido, por lo general, un efecto positivo en los ingresos de las personas que ofrecen sus servicios (alojamiento, merienda, venta de artesanías, música y presentaciones folclóricas, transporte, guía, etc.).Sin lugar a dudas, la actividad tiene un futuro prometedor porque existe un creciente interés de la población…

The Latin American social agenda in the year 2000

Now that the 1990s have ended and a new millennium is dawning, the low rate of economic growth, the region's vulnerability to international financial instability and the limited progress made in terms of equity oblige us to reflect on the social agenda for the future. An important role in that agenda will continue to be played by the efforts to overcome poverty and indigence, conditioned to a large extent by the region's capacity for economic change and its dynamism in creating large numbers of jobs of higher quality in terms of productivity and income. At the same time, in view of t…

The Netherlands Antilles: trade and integration with CARICOM

Introduction The Netherlands Antilles is an autonomous entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and comprises a federation of five Caribbean islands: Bonaire and Curacao (the Leeward islands) which comprise 80 per cent of the population of 211,000 and Saba, St. Eustatius and the southern part of St. Maarten (the Windward islands). Like the other countries in the Kingdom, it enjoys full autonomy in internal matters as, for example, education, public health, justice and customs. It has a per capita income of about US$ 12,000. The Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands account for a…

Report on the production of trade statistics in the Caribbean region

Summary 1. The statistics offices in the region utilize state of the art technology for processing their trade data, and report producing statistics on a regular basis. The periods of publications are monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, annually, and semi-annually, but vary amongst countries. 2. The warrants presented by importers and exporters to the customs departments for the clearance of goods is the main source of trade data in each country. After checking and processing, a copy of the warrants is placed in batches and forwarded to the statistics office, usually on a monthly basis. In some co…

Trade and maritime transport between Africa and South America

Summary Trade between Africa and South America is of relatively minor importance for each region. The main purpose of this report is to determine if a scarcity of maritime transport services could explain this comparative unimportance. More than half of all trade between the two regions is accounted for by just ten specific bilateral flows in petroleum, grain, iron ore, coal, and sugar. Almost all inter-regional trade moves by sea, mostly by non-liner charter shipping services. Trade between Africa and South America is subject to relatively low freight rates, mainly due to the type of produ…

Financial crises in "successful" emerging economies

Preface This book is the result of a project developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);, with support from the Ford Foundation. The text encompasses five articles analyzing emerging economies that were generally rated as successful by international financial institutions and the financial press during episodes characterized by a broad supply of external funds. We include the cases of Chile, Korea, and Mexico in the critical years of the 1990s and Chile in the deep crisis of the 1970s. All these economies were praised for their efficient pub…

Globalization and liberalization: the impact on developing countries

Summary This paper analyzes the impact of globalization on developing countries over the last several decades. The first section examines the components and mechanisms of globalization. The second turns to financial globalization –considered to be the most important aspect of a multifaceted process– and looks in more detail at the changing trends in finance for developing countries. The third analyzes the impact of the new pattern of finance in terms of growth, equity, and government autonomy. The concluding section offers policy recommendations for making globalization a more positiv…

Application of the concepts of agro-tourism, agricultural diversification and food and nutrition for the development of Caribbean communities with reference to standards and priority setting

Introduction There is a renewed call for a new approach to development with emphasis on community empowerment or participation, with the belief that more sustainable activities will be undertaken in those communities. Much of that call, however, is coming not from within the communities, but primarily from advocates of change who may have little to do with those communities. What then will the new approach bring apart from a change in who are the decision-makers? And how do we ensure that the change that is called for will, in fact, bring added benefits to the communities themselves? To be sur…

E-commerce and export promotion policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises: East Asian and Latin American experiences

Abstract As in other parts of the world, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America are important generators of employment while contributing to establishing certain social as well as regional 'equilibria' in the development process within the country. However, SMEs in Latin America are much less 'export-oriented'than their East Asian counterparts. SMEs in Latin America tend to produce import substitutes and non tradables while manufactured exports are still produced by large firms in relativelycapital-intensive ways. In contrast, many East Asian SMEs are…

Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe 2000 = Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean 2000

La edición 2000 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. La primera parte comprende indicadores socioeconómicos derivados (tasas de crecimiento, proporciones o coeficientes), que representan una visión resumida de cada área de interés y…

Establishing social statistical databases for evidenced-based social policy formulation in the Caribbean

Abstract The paper presents the challenges and lessons learnt from the Project Development of Social Statistical Databases and the Methodological Approaches for a Social Vulnerability Index (SVI); for Small Island Developing States' (NET/00/035);, which was undertaken by the Social Development Unit of the ECLAC/CDCC secretariat. The Project aims to make available to social planners and decision makers in the Caribbean, a body of social statistics comprised of data sets being generated by national central statistical offices of the ECLAC/CDCC member States. The paper situates the Pro…

Argentine convertibility: is it a relevant precedent for the dollarization process in Ecuador?

(*) Alfredo Calcagno and Sandra Manuelito, are Economic Affairs Officers with the Economic Projections Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Paper presented at the Seminar on the 'role of Central Bank Under-Dollarization', organized by the Central Bank of Ecuador, Quito, 22 and 23 March, 2001. 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. Summary Latin America has had a great deal of exper…

Caribbean SIDS Prepare for Johannesburg 2002 - The World Summit on Sustainable Development