Abstract The deep economic crisis of Argentina has been causing an active quest for conclusions of topical or general importance. Indeed, an experience of this kind is likely to generate useful lessons for macroeconomic theory and policy design. Some of them may be simple and straightforward (e.g.: under strong uncertainty, the arguments for precautionary savings should apply particularly to fiscal policies). However, we believe that the questions raised hardly lend themselves to trivial answers. In this paper, we propose to undertake a brief (and certainly, partial and preliminary) di…
Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean Falls Coffee Crisis Hurts the Region's Economies Op-ed by ECLAC's Executive Secretary, José Antonio Ocampo: Challenges for Small Economies in the Global Age Highlights: Policies for PYMEs Indicators Window on Asia Recent titles and calendar of events…
This assessment was prepared for the Government of Jamaica following the significant
damages to social and economic infrastructure and productive sectors as a result of a period of
sustained and unusual rainfall associated with the convergence of a tropical wave over Jamaica and
an area of high pressure to the north of the island resulting in periods of heavy and sustained
rainfall over the period May 22 – June 2, 2002.
A request for technical assistance was directed to the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, on May 31, by…
The international mobility of capital and the geographical dispersion of firms have clear advantages for the growth and modernization of Latin America and the Caribbean,but they also pose great challenges.Modern principles of capital taxation for open developing economies indicate the need to find the correct balance between the encouragement of private investment and the financing of social infrastructure, both of which are necessary for sustainable growth.This balance can be sub-optimal when countries compete for foreign investment by granting tax incentives or applying conflicting principle…
(22 August 2002) Next Monday 26 August Professor Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001, will visit the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), to give a Magisterial Lecture entitled: Whither Reforms? Towards a New Agenda for Latin America, on the occasion of the Second Raúl Prebisch Chair Magisterial Lecture.
The lecture will take place at 11:00 am in the Raúl Prebisch Room at ECLAC (Av. Dag Hammarskjöld s/n, Vitacura, Santiago) and will be chaired by the Executive Secretary of this Regional …
The global tourist cruise industry has been experiencing sustained growth for quite some time; the industry's future prospects are promising, due to good profitability and a reduction in costs achieved thanks to use of ever larger ships, which are making this new form of tourism accessible to more and more people.South American destinations have been visited by a wide range of cruise operators, reflecting the expansion of this industry worldwide; it is necessary that players in the industry take advantage of this opportunity to provide services that employ substantial numbers of people an…
(22 de agosto de 2002) El próximo lunes 26 de agosto visitará la sede de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) el Profesor Joseph Stiglitz, Premio Nobel de Economía 2001, quien dictará la Conferencia Magistral titulada ¿Hacia dónde van las reformas? En busca de una agenda para América Latina, con ocasión de la Segunda Cátedra Raúl Prebisch.
La conferencia tendrá lugar a las 11:00 horas en la Sala Raúl Prebisch de la CEPAL (Av. Dag Hammarskjöld s/n, Vitacura, Santiago) y estará presidida por el Secretario Ejecutivo de esta Com…
La industria mundial de los cruceros turísticos registra un crecimiento sostenido por largo tiempo, su expectativa para los próximos años es alentadora y se sustenta en una atractiva rentabilidad y reducción de costos mediante la utilización de naves cada vez mayores, que están haciendo accesible esta nueva forma de hacer turismo a un segmento de personas cada vez más numeroso.Las rutas de Sudamérica, visitadas por una amplia variedad de armadores, han sido un reflejo del crecimiento de esta industria a nivel mundial, siendo necesario aprovechar esta oportunidad para brindar servicios que dema…
Introduction Much has been written on the difficulty of obtaining statistical data on the Caribbean. Many commentators have examined the problem from several angles, including the organization of the statistical offices, the issue of training and the issue of budgetary resources that impose an upper limit to the size of staff that can be employed at the statistical office. While there is much to say about any of the issues given as examples of the facets of the problem, in the final analysis the management of limited statistical resources is at the core of the data poverty. Th…
The advent of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the establishment of a global Information Society are forcing countries of all shapes and sizes to take a fresh look on their development agendas. In order to tackle the challenging task of integrating the Information Society paradigm appropriately in to the development agenda, this paper proposes a conceptual framework to discuss and analyze the complex issues and challenges related to subject. Basing on an extensive study about the actual situation of the emerging Information Society in Latin America and the Cari…
La edición 2001 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…
The provision for special and differential treatment favoring developing economies in multilateral trade agreements recognizes that countries compete on an unequal footing. Special and differential treatment can be traced to early development theories and to the reports of the preparatory committee for the formation of the International Trade Organization (ITO). The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, 1947) addressed developing countries' needs for an asymmetrical treatment in international trade relations. Later on, the incorporation of Annex IV to the GATT (1964) p…
Vulnerability is an emerging issue that has been raised repeatedly in sociological analyses at the dawn of the twenty-first century and in debates on public policies aimed at alleviating poverty, promoting upward social mobility and empowering citizens. If this issue has been so topical, it is because a variety of factors, some highly controversial and others difficult to measure accurately, have contributed to the phenomenon. They include: the increasingly unstable macroeconomic context; the frequency with which households lapse into and emerge from poverty, a trend seen even among tradi…
Foreword In contrast to its situation during the lost decade , in the 1990s the Latin American and Caribbean region regained its access to international capital markets. Its return to these markets, in combination with a commitment to achieving basic macroeconomic equilibria, was manifested in smaller fiscal deficits and lower inflation, but the region has recovered only part of the ground it had lost in terms of its pace of economic growth. Thus, the region's economies have not been growing fast enough to strengthen their labour markets or to reduce poverty significantly. …
Main Statistical Points GEF funding has proceeded in recent years primarily via the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP. It has provided approximately US$5m in funding for projects totaling approximately US$18m in value (therefore over 70% locally cofinanced). Total public expenditure (capital and recurrent) on environmental projects (as identified herein) has ranged between 0.15% to 0.21% of GDP over the period or approximately between US$2 to US$3 per capital. …
Ten years of infrastructure reform in Latin America can teach us a lot about how to make privatization work for the poor. There are macroeconomic and microeconomic transmission mechanisms through which such reform may affect those sectors. This paper discusses policy instruments to increase their access to services and make the latter more affordable for them. The advantages and disadvantages of each instrument are evaluated and examples are given. The ways in which policy-makers should go about setting social priorities in infrastructure reform and choosing the most appropriate policy instrum…
The objective of this study is to examine the evolution and characteristics of the financing for the nvironment in Brazil, in order to identify the advances and retreats after the Rio 92 Conference. Brazil has a very decentralized administration, composed of three independent levels of public administration: the federal government, 27 state governments, and more than 5000 municipios, or municipalities; all of them with specific environmental institutions. However, at the time of the completion of this report, there were no indicator…
Abstract Human capital flows can take several forms and include the international circulation of scientists, information technology experts, intellectuals, artists and entrepreneurs. The evidence shows that traditional brain drain , say a permanent and irreversible outflow of human capital, co-exists also with cycles of emigration and return of national talent ( brain circulation ). Thus, for developing countries, the emigration of domestic talent need not be always a permanent loss. However, although return rates vary from country to country, poor economies suffer particularly…