The versatility of electricity, which can be transformed into heat, light or mechanical movement, makes it a very valuable form of energy. It can be used to light a home, cook food or move machinery in productive processes. Access to electricity is thus crucial for human and economic development. In the 1980s and 1990s, Latin America and the Caribbean substantially reformed the electricity sector. During this process, most of the countries in the region privatized all or part of the sector, which historically had been in the hands of the state. Thus, private companies largely took charge of el…
This study identifies the critical success factors that have resulted in the global competitiveness and sustainability of individuals, firms and ventures within the music and film subsectors in Jamaica. To anchor the study of the individual firms and ventures, the study first evaluates the historical evolution and recent trends in the development of the music and film subsectors, including their economic contribution and the main challenges and opportunities for their further development and lessons learned.…
The Mexico-United States border region comprises one of the most dynamic and complex industrial areas in the world. The region is characterized by high population growth and increasing urbanization and industrialization, all of which is taking place in a context of rapid political and economic change (Rincón, 2000). The Mexico-located maquila in-bond industry is a key player in this development. In the 1993-98 period, the maquilas accounted for 41.5% of the average Mexican export value (Dussel, 2000), and in the 1994-2000 period its share of foreign direct investment grew from 6% to 21…
Caribbean governments have been reacting to the phenomenon that is the Information Age with a variety of policy initiatives. Initially governments trained most of their efforts at facilitating the development of an informatics industry, drawn there by the promise of jobs and foreign exchange earnings. However, the motives for these policy interventions have evolved over time and as a consequence, policy has matured. This paper, which is descriptive rather than analytical, draws heavily on statements made by government decision makers. It attempts to provide an overview of some of the maj…
Processes of adjustment and restructuring of the production sectors to a new system of macroeconomic incentives are slow, costly and more inefficient than conventional microeconomic theory would lead one to suppose. In this article, the authors explore the process of the restructuring of production of a Chilean metal products and machinery company and the way it gradually modified its operations from the 1970s onwards, adapting them to new macroeconomic and mesoeconomic signals. As is well known, in the last two decades the system off incentives and the regulatory framework for production acti…
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…
Between 2003 and 2008 Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) experienced its most remarkable expansionary period since the 1970s. Yet, LAC countries' productivity gaps widened during this period vis-à-vis industrialized countries (here represented by the United States' manufacturing sector) as revealed in CEPAL (2010). The paper splits up this process and examines the different outcomes observed at the national level for the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico during these boom years. It examines the composition of productivity divergence in terms of sec…
Jamaica has abundant renewable energy sources (RES), which have hardly been tapped in the past and could provide for large shares of the future energy requirements. In 2005, around 5% of the expected 4,020 GWh of electricity produced will be based on RES (wind and hydropower). With the new planned target of a share of 15% RES electricity by 2012, a combined renewable capacity of about 175 MW would need to be installed in that year. There is further wind potential on Jamaica, even if no exact figures can be given on the magnitude of the exploitable wind potential. Nonetheless, it seems realisti…
Abstract The Chilean wine industry performed remarkably well over the past decades. Wines from Chile have found their way to consumers all over the world. This paper explores the factors that have supported the successful performance. In particular, through a questionnaire to key informants it tries to measure to what extent conscious collective action by local stakeholders to solve common problems of the industry in Chile and thereby create a shared basis for upgrading, have been relevant. The conclusion is that natural endowments, commercial and technological impulses from abroad and a favo…
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, August 2002, responded to a new cycle of global meetings that began with the Millennium Summit. The main characteristic of this new cycle is that the focus of the debate has moved away from declarations of principle toward identifying objectives and areas of concrete action, with quantitative commitments and deadlines for compliance. Debates about energy held an important position in Johannesburg. The positive links between access to energy, eliminating poverty and improving People's health and quality of life were emphasi…
This paper provides an overview of the structure and performance of the Caribbean tourism sector. It evaluates the role of policies and strategies as they impact the growth and competitiveness of the sector. Although the paper is not definitive on the subject, it provides some initial work on aspects of the industry that are not the typical focus of research. These include industrial structure, evaluated in terms of size, concentration, economies of scale and scope, competition and market types, for example oligopoly. Further the paper, examines the concept of clusters as it applies to the in…
Summary In Latin America, energy efficiency and renewable energy offer great potential for reducing the negative effects of the ever-increasing rates of energy consumption associated with economic growth and the move towards more energy-intensive societal models. Despite over two decades of discussions aimed at giving energy efficiency and renewable energy more prominent positions in the energy policies of Latin American countries, little has been achieved so far. The fact that these issues have not been integrated into energy policies reflects, to a certain extent, a failure on t…
Executive Summary
One of the major challenges facing developing countries is to attain high levels of competitiveness in all areas in order to effect the necessary transformation of their production structures. Technological development and innovation are identified as key factors in the attempt to meet this challenge. In many ways technology, in the broadest sense, has become a sine qua non for attaining and
maintaining competitiveness, which is itself considered one of the imperatives of successful industrial development. Similarly, in the Caribbean, science and technology are identified as …
This article seeks to rethink the conceptual framework for the formulation of industrial policy in the conditions currently being faced by most of the more industrialized countries of the region; it may be noted that the debate has very similar features in the economies at an intermediate level of industrial development too. The authors review the different theories on government intervention (section II); and the industrial policy arguments (section III);. They then consider the situation of the developing countries, taking a structuralist view (section IV); and the interaction of the macro- …
Abstract During the course of 1997 and 1998, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) carried out the project Comparative study of development strategies of selected East-Asian and Latin American countries with special reference to trade and industrial policies under the new international trading system . The project was designed to extract from the experiences of both regions the essence of the appropriate public policy in industrial and trade development and to identify its new role and available instruments, in conformity with the post-Uruguay Round trade reg…
Describes the impetus for the Netherlands-funded project NET/00/79 Development of Marine-based Strategy and the role of the report on Yachting in that venture. Provides working definitions of various yachts, the yachting industry, tourists, and yachting establishments. Discusses generally the relevance of the yachting industry to Caribbean tourism and economies. Explores the human and social dimension of yachting and provides and overview of the environmental issues related to the yachting sector. Identifies the challenges facing the industry, such as lack of recognition, crime, and la…
This article analyses the relations between the international specialization pattern and growth. For this purpose, it adopts as its analytical framework the recent literature emphasizing the importance of initial conditions and public policies, and not only factor endowment. It also analyses the empirical and economic policy implications of this approach. After an introduction (section I);, section II presents the analytical framework: a model with two internationally tradeable goods sectors and a non-tradeable inputs sector, with increasing returns to scale and dynamic pecuniary externalities…
Abstract The article uses the global commodity chains framework to explain the transformations in production, trade and corporate strategies that altered the global apparel industry over the past decades and changed the conditions for industrial upgrading. The apparel industry is identified as a buyer-driven commodity chain that contains three types of lead firms: retailers, marketers and branded manufacturers. As apparel production has become globally dispersed and competition between these firms has intensified, each type of lead firm has developed extensive global sourcing capabilities. Whi…
Abstract This paper presents the results of an investigation of manufacturing firm strategies and changes in these strategies as a result of trade liberalization, globalization and transformations in the economic environment in which companies operate. The research concluded that these changes have brought about substantial changes in firms' behaviour. However, in spite of the importance of the influence of the economic environment on firms, the research also led to the conclusion that there is a margin for company strategy.Innovative firms have adopted flexible behaviour and are upgradin…
América Latina y el Caribe deberá acelerar el paso para lograr el cumplimiento de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de la Agenda 2030, alertaron hoy los representantes de los 33 países de la región, de agencias de las Naciones Unidas y organismos regionales, multilaterales y de la sociedad civil presentes en la Sexta Reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, que finalizó este viernes 28 de abril en la sede central de la CEPAL en Santiago, Chile.
Al cierre de la reunión los delegados insistieron en que, si bien nos encontramos en la …