CEPAL Review no. 99

CEPAL Review no.96

Revista de la CEPAL no.96

The cost of hunger: Social and economic impact of child undernutrition in Central America and the Dominican Republic

This document presents the results derived from the analyses of the cost of undernutrition in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic. The study shows that not only are the effects reported valid for the countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic, but the resultant economic impact is also significant, representing between 1.7% and 11.4% of GDP. In this regard, productivity losses as a consequence of the higher death rate and the lower level of education account for 90% of the costs. Thus, in addition to the ethical imperative, era…

El costo del hambre: impacto social y económico de la desnutrición infantil en Centroamérica y República Dominicana

En el presente documento se presentan los resultados de los análisis sobre el costo de la desnutrición en Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá y República Dominicana. Los resultados del estudio muestran que los efectos indicados no sólo son válidos en los países de Centroamérica y República Dominicana, sino que además el impacto económico resultante también es significativo, llegando a representar entre 1,7% y 11,4% del PIB. En esto, las pérdidas de productividad, por mayor incidencia de muertes y menor nivel educacional, representa hasta 90% de los costos. Así, al …

Los objetivos de desarrollo del milenio y los desafíos para América Latina y el Caribe para avanzar en mayor bienestar, mejor capital humano y más igualdad de oportunidades

El presente documento retoma algunos de los planteos hechos en el informe de 2005 de CEPAL y otras agencias de Naciones Unidas sobre los objetivos de desarrollo del Milenio (ODM) en América Latina y el Caribe y avanza en el análisis de los problemas y desafíos que enfrenta la región. En particular, se examinan cinco áreas inscritas en los ODM o fuertemente relacionadas con los mismos (pobreza, hambre y desnutrición infantil, educación, salud e infancia), y se proponen recomendaciones de política para los gobiernos y países de la región.…

The millennium development goals and the challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean in making progress towards higher levels of well-being, better human capital and more equal opportunities

This document takes up a number of the points raised in the 2005 report by ECLAC and other UN agencies on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean. It provides further discussion on the type of problems and challenges facing the region in five areas that are either included in the MDGs or closely related to them (poverty, hunger and child malnutrition, education, health and children). The document makes recommendations for the region's governments and countries in these five areas.…

CEPAL Review no.88

Revista de la CEPAL no.88

El microcrédito: un instrumento para fortalecer las capacidades productivas locales

Changement technologique et opportunités de développement, une cible mouvante

Le présent article propose d 'interpréter le développement comme un processus d 'accumulation de capacités technologiques et sociales,dépendant de la mise à profit de fenêtres d 'opportunité successives et différentes.Celles-ci sont déterminées,à partir des pays du centre,par les révolutions technologiques qui se produisent tous les demi- siècles et les quatre phases de leur déroulement.Les possibilités de progresser à chaque opportunité sont fonction des résultats atteints au cours de la phase précédente,de l 'identification de la nature de la suivante,de la compréhension …

CEPAL Review no.80

Revista de la CEPAL no.80

A decade of light and shadow: Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1990s

Foreword The 1990s were unquestionably a time of transition and reorientation in several aspects of Latin America and the Caribbean's economic, social and political development. As in any period with these characteristics, the effects of long-standing processes mingled and interacted with incipient change. When the decade ended, ECLAC wished to contribute to the evaluation of the main events that marked the consolidation of reform in the region, recognizing of course that the speed of progress varied from country to country and from sector to sector. This publication offers an analysis of…

Globalizing talent and human capital: implications for developing countries

Abstract Human capital flows can take several forms and include the international circulation of scientists, information technology experts, intellectuals, artists and entrepreneurs. The evidence shows that traditional brain drain , say a permanent and irreversible outflow of human capital, co-exists also with cycles of emigration and return of national talent ( brain circulation ). Thus, for developing countries, the emigration of domestic talent need not be always a permanent loss. However, although return rates vary from country to country, poor economies suffer particularly…

Eqüidade, desenvolvimento e cidadania

Neste livro são analisadas as oportunidades oferecidas pela incorporação à economia mundial e os riscos implicados, em termos de instabilidade financeira e exclusão. Além disso, propõe-se uma oreorientação dos padrões de desenvolvimento da região em torno do eixo da eqüidade; uma política social universal, solidária e eficiente; um desenvolvimento mais estável, dinâmico, integrador e sustentável, e um conceito integral de cidadania, fundamentado não apenas na participação política, mas também em uma maior participação dos atores sociais nos assuntos públicos, o que é essencial para enfrentar a…

Technological change and opportunities for development as a moving target

This article puts forward an interpretation of development as a process of accumulation of technological and social capabilities dependent upon taking advantage of successive and different windows of opportunity. These windows are determined from the core countries, through the technological revolutions which occur every half-century and the four phases of their deployment. The possibilities of progressing at each opportunity depend on the achievements made in the previous phase, on identifying the nature of the next one, understanding the techno-economic paradigm of the revolution in question…

La competitividad empresarial en América Latina y el Caribe

En este artículo se estudia la evolución de la competitividad internacional de los países de América Latina y el Caribe en el decenio de 1990, prestando atención a las dimensiones microeconómica y sectorial. Se evalúa el desempeño competitivo de los países de la región, contrastándolo con el de sus principales competidores en el mundo en desarrollo; se analizan los actores empresariales involucrados, entre ellos las filiales de empresas transnacionales y las grandes empresas de capital nacional, y se presentan consideraciones de política. Si bien se observan avances en la competitividad de la …

Corporate competitiveness in Latin America and the Caribbean

This article looks at the evolution of international competitiveness in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1990s, focusing on the microeconomic and sectoral aspects. It evaluates the competitive performance of the region's countries, contrasting it with that of their main competitors in the developing world; it analyses the corporate actors involved, including the subsidiaries of transnational enterprises and large locally owned firms; and it sets forth some political considerations. Although progress has been made with competitiveness in the region, this has been lar…

La vulnerabilidad social y sus desafíos: una mirada desde América Latina

(*) Roberto Pizarro es consultor de la División de Estadística y Proyecciones Económicas de la CEPAL. Las opiniones expresadas en este documento, que no ha sido sometido a revisión editorial, son de exclusiva responsabilidad del autor y pueden no coincidir con las de la Organización. Resumen A comienzos del nuevo siglo la vulnerabilidad se ha constituido en el rasgo social dominante de América Latina. El predominio del mercado en la vida económica, la economía abierta al mundo y el repliegue del estado de las funciones que tuvo en el pasado provocaron un cambio de envergadura en las …