Ex-post evaluation of the employment effects of a preferential trade agreement: methodological issues, illustrated with a reference to Chile

This paper presents a discussion of the major methodological issues relating to some key studies assessing the employment effects of a particular PTA using different methodologies (General and Partial Equilibrium, Gravitational models, Micro simulations, Econometrics using panel data, etc.). In this line, the paper discusses an accounting model for decomposing the ex - post employment performance as related to Latin America Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), proposing this method to evaluate the Chile - Mexico PTA as an illustration. The paper defines a research agenda using an Employment e…

Labour market trends and implications of regional integration

Labour markets represent the backbone of economic functioning, providing the means of survival to populations, with labour income ensuring the livelihood of workers and families alike. Labour is also an essential input into production - in many cases it is the main input, especially in service sectors which are dominant sectors in the Caribbean. As such, labour markets define economic well-being: in competitive economies labour is paid its marginal product. This implies that only productive labour prospers as higher productivity implies higher earnings, which in turn allows for higher consumpt…

Latin American South-South integration and cooperation: from a regional public goods perspective

The present level of intra-regional trade of Latin America and the Caribbean in relation to their total exports is still low when compared to the peak of 21.1% registered in 1997, despite its rebound in 2003 and continued recovery into 2004. While this trade holds a high potential for future growth, there are a series of problems to be addressed in order for regional integration to continue on the paths of recovery and deep integration. The countries in the region should keep working on the constraints that its regional integration process continues to suffer from the persistence of non-tariff…

MERCOSUR in transition: macroeconomic perspectives

The recovery of the economies of MERCOSUR, and the disturbances that the recent crises generated in the region have motivated reconsideration of the medium term prospects of the integration project. This paper tries to contribute to this activity with a brief analysis of regional macroeconomic interactions, and a discussion in broad terms of incentives and restrictions for macroeconomic cooperation in the specific conditions of the region. The themes that play through the discussion are that (i) the lack of a shared concrete perspective about the role of MERCOSUR for the growth of the nationa…

Macroeconomic coordination in Latin America: does it have a future?

For most developing countries, open regionalism has emerged as quite a sensible response to the undergoing turbulent and asymmetric process of economic globalization. Moreover, the successful experience of the countries which are now part of the European Union, has made regional integration an increasingly attractive option for the developing world. Whenever regional integration is intended to go beyond merely a free trade agreement, macroeconomic coordination becomes a key issue. Theoretically, the underlying idea of the macroeconomic coordination is the interdependency between econo…

Towards an information society measurement instrument for Latin America and the Caribbean: getting started with census, household and business surveys

This document is part of an effort to take inventory of the current state of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) statistics in Latin American and Caribbean countries, particularly in National Statistic Offices (NSOs). In this study fifteen countries are investigated regarding three sources of information: Internet research, e-mails and phone calls and through the meta-data questionnaire Status of information society statistics in National Statistic Offices, applied to NSOs of Latin America and the Caribbean during August 2004 in the frame of OSILAC. The effort concluded with a wo…

Information and communication technology (ICT) for development of small and medium-sized exporters in Latin America: Brazil

Information technology for development of small and medium-sized exporters in Latin America and East Asia

This report is the product of a research project titled Comparative Study on East Asian and Latin American Information Technology (IT) Industries , carried out in 2004 and 2005 by the International Trade and Integration Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile, in collaboration with the Institute of Developing Economies Japan External Trade Organization (IDE/JETRO) in Chiba, Japan. The project it was financed by the Thematic Trust Fund - Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Development, United Nations D…

The Contonou Agreement: Selected issues, effects and implications for Caribbean economies