This study presents dynamic labour demand estimates based oninformation for 15 Latin American countries in the last three decades. Itis found that recessions have a direct negative effect on total and wageemployment creation. There is also a positive effect of recessions onemployment-output elasticity and a negative one on employment-wageelasticity. These results can be interpreted as meaning that policies aimedat reducing labour costs would be of limited effectiveness in combatingunemployment during recessions. On the other hand, policies to stimulateaggregate demand would have a stronger pos…
This paper examines four hypotheses: (i); in Brazil, as in otherperipheral countries in the post-crisis context, a policy choice appears tohave been made for a flexible exchange rate within a currency band ( dirtyfloat );; (ii); the underlying reasons for this policy appear to have more to dowith pass-through of exchange-rate variations and precautionary demandfor reserves than with the maintenance of a competitive real exchangerate; (iii); in the country's peculiar situation, considerable capital mobility isconjoined with large and liquid financial derivatives markets and a res…
The purpose of this study is to examine gender wage gaps in Chileusing a new database, the Social Protection Survey (EPS); 2002-2006,which makes it possible to control for actual work experience and itstiming. Potential work experience variables do not reflect the intermittentand discontinuous participation of women in the Chilean labour market.Corrections are also introduced for occupational selection, and two keyvariables are instrumented: education and work experience. Although thereare still wage differences between men and women, the introduction ofcontrols for actual work experience and …
This paper studies the determinants of manufacturing exports toChina. Data from 79 countries for the 1990-2006 period and estimatesof gravity equations are used to analyse the effects of countries' factorendowment, geographical characteristics and degree of economicopenness. The results are consistent with the factor abundance modeland reveal that economies with a larger human capital endowment exporta greater volume of manufactures to China. Having a large economyand being geographically close to China also make a country morelikely to export manufactures to it. The results do not indica…
This essay suggests that there is a body of Latin Americanstructuralist economic theory which possesses distinctive characteristicswhile having a family resemblance to other institutionalist schools ofthought, and which is based on an original approach to economic value.The founders of structuralism conceived a systemic, multidimensional anddynamic approach. They applied it to the study of improvements in, and thesocial distribution of, labour productivity generated in the central economiesand the effects of these on the societies of the periphery. This outlookchallenges the notion of markets …
Many empirical studies of crime assume that victims andperpetrators live in a single geographical unit, the implication being thatthe socio-economic characteristics of victims' places of residence canbe treated as determinants of crime. This study offers an alternativeapproach which consists in measuring crime by the proportion of allegedoffenders in the whole population and treating the characteristics of theirhome communes as socio-economic causes of criminal behaviour. Theconclusion is that those charged with crimes present a high degree ofgeographic mobility. In the case of economical…
The 2008-2009 edition of Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy is divided into three chapters. Chapter I offers a medium-term view of the current international economic conditions, examining in particular the variables that are most likely to shift global scenarios and affect the position of the Latin America and Caribbean economies in the world economy. The crisis has triggered or accentuated trends such as the growing significance of the emerging economies (with the resulting impact on the region's trade flows), and the differentiated patterns of world trade in manufac…
ResumenEn este documento se analizan antecedentes, opiniones e ideas sobre la actual crisis económica y financiera internacional y sus efectos en la migración internacional de los latinoamericanos y los caribeños, relación en torno a la cual se manejan tres hipótesis principales: en primer lugar, la idea que tanto la agenda sobre la migración como la cooperación internacional en la materia venían deteriorándose desde antes de que estallara la crisis en su más plena expresión recesiva. La segunda presunción es que el aumento de las visiones alarmistas en la opinión pública, especialmente en lo …
Este estudio hace parte de una investigación comparativa realizada por el ILPES en el marco del Convenio con la GTZ sobre “Modernización del Estado, Desarrollo Productivo y Uso Sostenible de Recursos Naturales-componente de Gestión Económica Territorial” que tuvo lugar entre 2004 y 2007. Después de elaborada una pauta general de investigación, consultores nacionales de 10 países de la región realizaron los estudios nacionales sobre “Políticas e instituciones para el desarrollo económico territorial (DET)”. Se escogió un grupo de países representativo de las diferentes regiones del continente, …
The financial crisis that began in the United States in mid-2007 - and spread very quickly to the real sector of the global economy beginning in September 2008 - had a strong impact on growth in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2009. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has estimated that in 2009 the gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 1.9%, ending the cycle of high growth which characterized the period 2003-2008. One of the main channels of transmission of the crisis to the region was international trade. Both regional exports and imports dropped in a dra…
La crisis financiera que surgió en los Estados Unidos a mediados de 2007 —y que se trasladó congran rapidez al sector real de la economía mundial a partir de septiembre de 2008— ha tenido unmarcado impacto en el crecimiento de América Latina y el Caribe en 2009. La Comisión Económicapara América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) ha estimado que en 2009 el producto interno bruto (PIB)sufrirá una caída del 1,7%, lo que pondría fin al ciclo de elevado crecimiento que caracterizó alsexenio 2003-2008.Uno de los principales canales de transmisión de la crisis hacia la región fue el comerciointernacional. T…
Job creation continues to be a priority in economic policy because the wellbeing of families depends on the quantity and quality of jobs available. In 2004-2008, Latin America recorded its highest economic growth in 40 years, which has had a positive impact on job creation, in contrast to the minimal improvements in both job numbers and quality posted during periods of slow economic growth. Economic growth is not, however, the only factor that shapes these two aspects of employment. The three pillars of the institutional framework for labour, namely, the regulations governing individual and co…
A geração de emprego continua sendo um imperativo da política econômica, posto que o bem-estar das famílias depende de sua quantidade e qualidade. No quinquênio 2004-2008 a América Latina registrou altas taxas de crescimento econômico, as mais elevadas em 40 anos, o que teve efeitos positivos na geração de emprego. Em compensação, em períodos de escassa expansão econômica, o aumento do emprego foi exíguo em quantidade e precário em qualidade. No entanto, o crescimento econômico não é o único que incide na quantidade e na qualidade do emprego.Os três pilares da institucionalidade trabalhista, i…
Después de seis años de crecimiento, se estima una caída del PIB de América Latina y el Caribe de 1,8% y del PIB por habitante cercana al 2,9% en 2009. El impacto de la crisis internacional fue muy intenso a fines de 2008 y a comienzos de 2009 y afectó a todos los países de la región. En el segundo trimestre comenzó una recuperación que se generalizó en la segunda mitad del año.El detenimiento del crecimiento afectó negativamente la demanda por empleo y, consecuentemente, se estima que la tasa de desempleo regional se incrementará a alrededor de 8,3%, junto con un deterioro en la calidad de lo…
This FAL Bulletin issue addresses the contribution physical infrastructure makes to regional integration. It analyses the particular cases of
the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), the Mesoamerica Project and the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM).…
En esta edición del
Boletín FAL
se aborda el aporte de la infraestructura física a la integración regional y se analizan los casos particulares
de la IIRSA, el Proyecto Mesoamérica y la CARICOM.…
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) jointly with the World Program of Food (WFP) and recognized experts of the region developed a methodology that, using secondary information, estimate the opportunity cost derived from undernutrition. This methodology has been successfully applied in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic, where the cost of undernutrition was estimated at 6.7 billion dollars in 2004.
The present study covers four countries in South America: Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru. The results indi…