Skill formation in Uruguay: what are the required labour qualifications for development?

At the global level, trade in services has been the most dynamic sector, with an average growth rate about double that in the primary and manufacturing sectors. However, the three activities have a completely different composition in terms of type of labour, services being the most skill-intensive. In Uruguay, the formation of human resources shows several weaknesses; which leads one to ask: Is Uruguay prepared to take advantage of the opportunities open in the global market? If not, what are the consequences? A simulation exercise was tried consisting of an increase in external demand for ski…

Creative industries in the Caribbean: a new road for diversification and export growth

Creative industries have become a new engine of growth and development in the world economy. This dynamic sector, which ranges from traditional arts to multimedia, has been an important driver of innovation and productivity growth. The present study argues that the creative industries can become a pillar for economic diversification and export growth in the Caribbean. The study adds to the developing literature on the creative sector by evaluating export performance in the context of constraints as well as opportunities. The Caribbean creative sector possesses a number of advantages that are r…

Productivity growth in Latin American manufacturing: what role for international trade intensities?

This paper analyzes the relationship between the intensity of international trade flows and labor productivity for 28 industries in the five main economies in the region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico) using the Arellano-Bond generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator. The results show that international trade flows contributed through various channels to labor productivity growth in the period 1990 to 2008. These channels, which have been developed in the theoretical literature, are export intensity (share of production exported), import penetration (share of domestic deman…

Caribbean SIDS Prepare for Johannesburg 2002 - The World Summit on Sustainable Development

Handbook for estimating the socio-economic and environmental effects of disasters

E-business innovation and customs renovation for secure supply chain management

Information technologies (ITs) and supply chain management (SCM) are increasingly considered as indispensable tools of competitiveness especially for companies facing excessive global competition, although these companies have not necessarily succeeded in taking full advantage of such cutting-edge technologies and management systems. Their use, especially of international SCMs, is limited to a small number of purchaser-suppliers groups that are formed primarily by transnational corporations (TNCs). The factors impeding a proliferation of SCMs at a global scale include the difficulties that com…

Private-public alliances for export development: the Korean case

The present report explains the development path of Korea, from a country which started its development with a lack of natural resources, industrial facilities, sufficient foreign reserves and business experiences and with human resources as its only productive factor at the disposal, to its successful technological catch-up, export performance and economic development. The study clarifies this development by concentrating on the formulation and implementation mechanism of development strategies and policies with the emphasis on trade; the technological capability building process and institu…

Economic growth with equity: challenges for Latin America

The publication of this book was made possible by the contributions of the Ford Foundation and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The funds of the latter institution are managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). This is an ECLAC and Palgrave Macmillan copublication. Preface From time to time, Latin American countries experience growth spurts, like in the period 2004-05, when the region achieved the highest biennial growth rate of the past 25 years. However, sustained growth has been elusive in the last quarter …

Trade, environment and development: implications for Caribbean countries

Introduction Trade and development issues have been the focus of economists, policy makers and international organizations for decades. However, environmental concerns have only come to the fore within the last couple of decades largely as a result of the work of scientists on, for example, climate change and loss in biodiversity as well as the lobbying activities of environmental groups, such as Greenpeace. The linking of environment to trade only gained international prominence since the negotiations for the Canada-United States Free Trade Area in the 1980s. However, although enviro…

Food Security Issues for Caribbean