This research looks at Latin America and the Caribbean exports trajectory in the United States market in the almost two decades that followed China's accession to the WTO and compares it with that followed by China and other regions. The analysis exploits product-level United States imports data collected from the United States Census Bureau. The dataset contains information on more than 30.000 products per year for almost 200 countries.…
24 Jun 2020, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:38
|
Publicación
This overview examines the economic performance of economies of the Caribbean in 2019 and comprises four chapters. The first chapter provides a comparative analysis across Caribbean economies of the main macroeconomic variables, namely GDP growth, monetary indicators, as well as fiscal and external accounts. The second chapter looks at areas of focus in the Caribbean. The third chapter concludes, while the annex includes individual country briefs that give an overview of the economic situation for the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and a subregional assessment of the coun…
Innovation and internationalization in services are key drivers of structural transformation, productivity growth and overall economic performance in Latin America. The services sector accounts for two thirds of the region’s GDP and provides over 60% of its employment. These shares are higher than in other developing regions, but still lower than in countries with higher levels of per capita income.
The spread of information and communication technologies in Latin America over the past three decades has vastly enhanced both the tradability of services and the sector’s propensity to innovate. L…
1 Mar 2015, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:32
|
Publicación
Despite its active embrace of trade liberalization and the maintainance of relatively open economies, CARICOM trade performance both within the region and extraregionally has been poor. The nexus between bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Partial Scope Agreements (PSAs) and preferential trade arrangements, which was intended to assist in compensating for the small size of domestic and regional markets, while providing an additional tier of trade and economic integration, has thus far failed to deliver its intended results. This paper makes this conclusion in assessing the performance of t…
1 Nov 2013, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:31
|
Publicación
The increasing prominence of developing countries in the world economy reects not only their economic dynamism but also stronger links through increased South-South trade, investment and cooperation. Developing countries in both Latin America and East Asia must act proactively to prepare themselves for this new scenario, adjusting their policies and strategies so as to take advantage of the growing potential of South-South links. In this regard, authorities from both regions should redouble their efforts to identify and capitalize upon their potential complementarities, by creating biregional …
1 Ago 2013, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:44
|
Publicación
This study analyses how far the strong expansion of Argentine exports since
2003 has been due simply to favourable external conditions and how industrial
manufactures have behaved. It finds that the country's pattern of international
specialization has not greatly altered at the major category level, but that both
primary products and manufactures of agricultural origin, which account for much of
the trade surplus, have undergone significant changes in composition. In addition,
regional trade has consolidated and traditional partners such as the European Union
and the United States have b…
1 Mayo 2011, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:44
|
Publicación
This paper analyzes Raúl Prebisch's less familiar contributions to economic theory, related to the business cycle, and heavily informed by the Argentinean experience. His views of the cycle emphasize the common nature of the cycle in the center and the Latin American periphery as one unified phenomenon. While his rejection of orthodoxy is less than complete, some elements of what would become a more Keynesian position are developed. In particular, a preoccupation with the management of the balance of payments and the need for capital controls as a macroeconomic management tool, considerab…
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…
Over the past decade, a growing number of companies have recognized the business benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies and practices. Their experiences are bolstered by a growing body of empirical studies that demonstrates that CSR has a positive impact on business economic performance and is not detrimental to shareholder value. Maximization of profits is perhaps the most important element for ensuring the continuity of the business over the time. However, value creation is also related to social issues such as health and safety, equality and environmental protection, und…
1 Ago 2008, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:44
|
Publicación
This paper develops and tests a model of growth that emphasizesthe introduction of new exports as the main source of growth in countriesthat are well within the global technology frontier and depend for growthon adapting existing products to their economic environment. It seeks tocapture the stylized facts behind growth in countries as different as theRepublic of Korea, Taiwan Province of China, Mauritius, Finland, Chinaand Chile, all of which have relied on export diversification. The wideningof comparative advantage is thus seen as the main driver of economicgrowth. The export diversificatio…
This paper compares the dynamism of the Latin American and Caribbean region's services trade with that of Asia, evaluates the determinants of these trade flows, and proposes measures for improving the region's performance. The focus of this study is on other services , which includes all services except transport and travel services (mainly tourism). Other services include many modern service inputs (including communications, financial and information technology services and business services), that play an increasingly vital role in determining many businesses&…
From a broad sustainable development viewpoint, intellectual property (IP) might relate to a number of aspects of a country's social and economic development. Its impact can be felt in industrial, health, education, nutrition, biodiversity and cultural policies. In exploring the issues relating to sustainable development and the important changes that have taken place in the IP landscape, we will focus on issues that are drawing particular attention in major international for and to developments that are taking place in bilateral trade negotiations.This paper will thus focus on understand…
Defining appropriate Intellectual Property (IP) policy is a key industrial and social policy matter for Latin American governments. The IP interests of countries in Latin America may differ substantially from comparable interests in the United States, Europe and Asia, and IP interests among Latin American countries may differ. Many Latin American countries have a strong tradition of creative works covered by copyright, such as authorship of books, music and paintings. Most Latin American countries do not have a tradition of developing new chemical entities in the pharmaceutical sector, and pat…
1 Oct 2007, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:32
|
Publicación
Since its initiation on January 1, 1994, the agriculture section of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been controversial, which has led to several trade disputes, suggestions for modification and strengthening, and even Presidential initiatives such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). While NAFTA has done much to spur economic growth and development, it has not realized its potential in integrating agrifood markets. Several illustrations are summarized in this report on progress in overcoming sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) barriers to trade un…
This study provides an analysis of links between trade liberalisation, trade performance and competitiveness in the Caribbean. The study takes an eclectic approach, borrowing from different strands of theory and empirical findings, where necessary. Nevertheless from a broad conceptual frame of reference, an effort is made to analyse the structural, institutional and market (demand and supply); factors that impinge on trade performance and competitiveness outcomes in the region. This approach, it is believed, provides the most relevance for analysing the real world situation in the Caribbean,…
1 Ago 2007, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:32
|
Publicación
Since the implementation in 1994 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, trade between the three North American countries has almost tripled. However there are substantial impediments for the efficient freight movements between the three countries. Major obstacles derived from transaction costs which reduce and sometimes eliminate the benefits gained from the removal of tariffs resulting from NAFTA. The paper analyzes North American truck, rail and maritime trade and transportation characteristics and operations that serve as the foundation to identify and quantify transaction costs caus…
1 Ene 2006, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:32
|
Publicación
This volume deals with macroeconomic issues and their relationship to growth in emerging economies. Lack of economic growth has been a feature of Latin American economies since the 1980s. In this book the analysis is complemented by two studies focused in East Asia and South Africa. All country cases examined have exhibited low inflation but high instability of economic activity in the 1990s and early 2000s. These cases provide relevant theoretical implications for a broader understanding of real macroeconomic policies in economies vulnerable to the globalization of financial volatility.…
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 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…
18 Jun 2004, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 15:23
|
Publicación
Presentation
The countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region have shown a keen
and lasting interest in mechanisms of economic development and public policies for its
promotion. This is a process in which ECLAC has been involved ever since it was founded
over half a century ago. Today, the debate on these issues continues against the backdrop
of a globalization process in which the remarkable dynamism of some dimensions
-especially its economic, financial and cultural aspects- contrasts with the
slow formation of an institutional network capable of coping with the increased
interdepend…