Previous studies about the relationship between the cyclical components of Mexico's
output and unemployment suggest that it closely resembles that found in the
economy of the United States of America. This would indicate that the dynamics
between output and labour markets in the two economies are rather similar. However,
these estimates are puzzling for they do not correspond to a characterization made
to Mexico's labour market. Using a methodology first proposed by Clark (1989),
we find that the correlation between the transitory components of output and
unemployment is much lower t…
This survey posits that improving global prospects especially in the United States and Europe will mean opportunities for positive growth in the Caribbean due to increasing exports and renewed inflows from foregin direct investment and remittances. It points out that the response of the Caribbean economies to the global crisis has been asymmetric with the goods1 producing economies doing better than the service producing economies with respect to growth and their public finances. On the latter issue the region faces severe challenges as debt to GDP ratios in some countries are in excess of 100…
In the face of weak global growth in major export markets the Caribbean economies have underperformed. The situation is much more severe among service producers1 which have suffered the decline in tourist arrivals and offshore banking services. The goods producers have benefited from the commodity boom and have tended to show more robust growth. The expectations for 2013 are that growth will be positive in the region with the service producers growing at 1.5per cent and the goods producers at 3.6per cent. This performance will depend heavily on improved performances in the major export markets…
Using two standard cycle methodologies (Classical and Deviation Cycle) and a comprehensive sample of 83 countries worldwide, including all developing regions, we show that the Latin American and Caribbean cycle exhibits two distinctive features. First, and most importantly, its expansion performance is shorter and for the most par less imtense than that of the rest of the regions considered, and in particular than that of East Asia and the Pacific, East Asia and the Pacific's expansions last five years longer than those of LAC, and its output gain is 50% greater than that of LAC. Second,…
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) held a high-level thematic debate on "Addressing Excessive Price Volatility in Food and Related Financial and Commodity Markets," under the auspices of the President of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.
The event was part of a UNGA resolution on excessive price volatility adopted on 14 February 2012, which called for policies to address long-term structural issues of the commodity economy and integrate commodity policies into wider development and poverty eradication strategies at all levels.
The resolution underscored the financial regula…
This report presents the results of the second survey of multinational enterprises (MNEs) from Chile, carried out by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Institute of International Studies of the University of Chile (IEI), and the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC), a joint center of Columbia Law School and The Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York. The survey, conducted in 2012, covers the period 2011 and was undertaken in the framework of the Emerging Markets Global Players (EMGP) project, an init…
Using the results of seven nationally and regionally representative household surveys, this study analyzes the impact of trade liberalization on wage inequality through a channel in which applied tariffs, owing to the preferential margin given under numerous preferential trade agreements, would affect industry wage premiums during the 1992-2006 period in Chile. I find the skill premiums for high-skilled workers there to have decreased, especially after 2000; this circumstance is unlike that seen in most other Latin American countries or during Chile's initial reform period. The results of…
Recently, Latin American countries have had to face the challenges of improving social inclusion and economic redistribution while consolidating democratic institutions after long periods of authoritarian regimes in many of them. Addressing pressure for social inclusion was all the more difficult, since these societies are characterized by some of the worst income disparities in the world and high degrees of labor market informality.
After the 70’s, the massive explosion of social demands in the transition to democracy transformed the region into a social laboratory aiming to promote social in…
This study attempts to analyse the growth of Cuba's production sector and to
identify the main determinants and constraints that existed during a period when
tighter restrictions on trade and financial activity forced the country to reorient its
economic model and its position in the world economy. This analysis includes an
exploration of the institutional dimension of the gross domestic product (GDP). The
model, variables and methodology used for this purpose have all been adapted to
the particular features and specificities of the Cuban economy.…
Sustainable growth strategies depend critically on the role of the state in different societies, and the incentive structures associated with alternative institutional arrangements. In particular, in multi-level countries, incentive structure matter even more, as elements of game play between different levels of government becomes possible. Under these circumstances, organizational structures borrowed from advanced countries may not function as expected and could generate deleterious incentives. This paper focuses on the institutions and governance issues as preconditions for susta…
El CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs) en colaboración con la DFD de la CEPAL, la ESADE (Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas) y la Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB), organizó, por octavo año consecutivo, el seminario sobre la Agenda de Desarrollo Iberoamericana (ADI). El mismo tuvo lugar en Barcelona los días 19 y 20 de octubre de 2012, semanas antes de la celebración en Cádiz de la XXII Cumbre Iberoamericana de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno, y que centró sus deliberaciones sobre el tema: "Una relación renovada en el Bicentenario de la Constitución…
La División de Financiamiento para el Desarrollo de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), en conjunto con el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación del Gobierno de España (MAEC) y la Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) de la Universidad de Columbia (EE.UU), organizaron un Seminario sobre Gobernanza Económica Global, que tuvo lugar en la ciudad de Madrid los días 11 y 12 de marzo de 2013.
El Seminario se realizó en el marco del convenio de cooperación existente entre las instituciones, con el objetivo de promover el diseño y la implementación de políticas pú…
Organizado en conjunto por la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación del Gobierno de España (MAEC) y la Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) de la Universidad de Columbia (EEUU).…
The current survey provides an overview of the economic performance for 2011 and the outlook for 2012 of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, and of the eight member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), namely Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla and Montserrat. The introduction summarizes the economic performance of the Caribbean in 2011 and the growth outcomes for 2012. Section A examines the current global economic difficulties and the challenges p…
(17 December 2012) Why is Latin America and the Caribbean still the world's most unequal region, despite the fact that most of its countries are experiencing steady economic growth? The persistent inequality in the region and the apparent lack of specific policies aimed at reducing the income distribution gap are some of the issues tackled in the latest issue of the CEPAL Review, which is available online from today.
This issue (Nº 108) of the main academic publication of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) includes 10 articles on various economic and social top…
En el Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe de la CEPAL se presenta un conjunto de estadísticas básicas que caracterizan la situación económica, sociodemográfica y ambiental de la región referidas a un período en particular. Esta información es parte del conjunto de estadísticas disponibles en CEPALSTAT, el portal de bases de datos y publicaciones estadísticas de la CEPAL.
La presente edición del Anuario contiene datos que se encontraban disponibles hasta mediados de diciembre de 2013. Como novedad se han incluido perfiles regionales a modo de resumen para cada una de las áreas, a …
The eclac-Climate Impacts Assessment Model (CIAM) is a modelling platform that
has been created to assess the economic consequences of climate change in the
Caribbean. The model can be freely accessed, downloaded and even modified.
The version available is a full-fledged model which can readily be used to conduct
simulation exercises. This paper provides a general description of the model and
an illustrative simulation exercise. Our results from this exercise highlight the fact
that the Caribbean is a highly vulnerable region where climate change is expected
to generate sizeable and negative e…
The Macroeconomics for development blue print for Latin America and the Caribbean is articulated around two issues: an active strategy of productive development and a counter cyclical policy stance. Macroeconomic counter cyclicality refers to the management of the level of aggregate demand to dampen the fluctuations and volatility of real and nominal variables around their long-term trends. This paper argues that cycle and trend are interdependent and that, as a result, counter cyclical policies (i.e., aggregate demand policies) are not neutral to the long-run behaviour of economies.…
The second Caribbean Development Roundtable hosted by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, was held in Guyana, in May 30, 2012. The theme of the meeting was “Macroeconomic Policy for Structural Transformation and Social Protection in Small Sates.”
The participants included the Ministers of Finance of Guyana and of Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Ashni Singh and the Honourable Winston Dookeran, and high level policy-makers and regional and international experts. Special guests were a delegation from Brazil.…