Lessons from Colombian Economic Development

Colombia is an interesting case study within emerging countries. Through 150 years of democratic tradition and seven decades of sound fiscal and monetary policies, the country has displayed institutional strength and economic growth, in spite of strong external shocks, rent- seeking by sectoral business confederations, and, recently, narco-traffickers and guerrillas. Reforms made during the nineties, just as in other Latin American nations, did not result in the expected take-off in growth. In Colombia, the reason lies partly in the consequences of discovering considerable oil reserves, the escalation of the internal conflict, the fiscal consequences of the 1991 Constitution and huge fiscal commitments related to pensions and social expenditure. In the current decade Colombia has made vast progress in invigorating the sources of economic growth, improving welfare of the poorest strata of population and reinstating the rule of law across the country. The current international crisis poses a considerable challenge in terms of growth and threatens social advancement achieved so far.Government, fiscal policies, national security and war, national budget, economic development, institutions and growth

The livestock sector in Colombia: Toward a program to facilitate large-scale adoption of mitigation and adaptation practices

Livestock raising is an important sector of the Colombian economy, which will face serious challenges in the next decade, including adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. Colombia must change the model of livestock production in a very short time by freeing up areas of pasture for other uses and focusing intensified livestock production in suitable zones. Despite the urgency and the magnitude of the required changes, only isolated small-scale initiatives exist. Colombia therefore has the challenge to scale-up these initiatives1, but at present it has no program designed to achieve this objective. We started by analyzing the policies, actors, and existing initiatives in Colombia. We then sought to understand the potential for and the limitations to scaling-up promising initiatives to face the challenges of climate change in the livestock sector. We identified the key elements from previous initiatives and classified them into the conceptual spaces identified in the theory of scaling-up. These are the spaces in matters of: policy, fiscal and financial matters, institutional capacity, learning, partnerships, and technical matters, emphasizing the importance of the technical dimension. Finally, we propose some elements for the design of Colombia's national program of livestock raising

the use of eminent domain in São Paulo, Bogotá, and Mexico City

En este trabajo el autor ofrece un examen sobre las prácticas de dominio eminente (eminent domain) en tres de las más importantes ciudades latinoamericanas. Aborda conforme lo anterior, de manera crítica, las relaciones entre las reglas legales usadas respecto del dominio eminente y el contexto institucional en el cual son aplicadas dichas reglas, en una perspectiva bidimensional: la primera, la de las relaciones entre los poderes judicial, legislativo y ejecutivo en lo concerniente al dominio eminente, y la segunda, la distribución de autoridad con relación al dominio eminente a nivel de gobiernos nacionales, provinciales o locales. Por esta vía logra el autor un acertado análisis comparativo, contextualizando dichas prácticas de dominio eminente, con la realidad de cada una de esas metrópolis, permitiendo las inferencias aterrizadas de que carecen estudios similares.In this work the author offers a rich and deep examination on the practices of “eminent domain” in three of the most important Latin-American cities. He approaches as the previous thing, of a critical way, the relations between the legal rules that concern of “eminent domain” and the institutional context in which the above mentioned rules are applied, in a two-dimensional perspective: the first one, that of the relations between the power judicial, legislative and executive in the relating thing to “eminent domain”, and the second one, the distribution of authority with relation to “eminent domain” to level of national, provincial or local governments. For this route the author achieves a guessed right comparative analysis, giving context to the above mentioned practices of “eminent domain”, in the reality of each one of this metropolis, allowing the inferences landed that similar studies lack

The Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and USA: What can happen to Colombia?

In order to assess the impact of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Colombia and the United States of America, we describe the characteristics of the Colombian economy emphasizing its trade patterns and perspectives and identifying the sectors and regions that are likely to be the most sensitive to a FTA. We argue that the effects of a bilateral trade agreement between the USA and Colombia would be similar to those of past trade reforms. However, as Colombia and the USA negotiate the agreement, many other Latin American countries are about to sign trade agreements with the USA. Therefore, the Colombian economy is likely to be affected also by the change in trade rules among its partners. We first analyze the effect of past reforms in Colombia and Mexico, which is our benchmark, and then, using an applied multiregional general equilibrium model, simulate the effects over the Colombian economy of a bilateral agreement with USA. We conclude that, although moderate, there will be an increase in welfare and production of the Colombian consumers and firms.International Trade Agreements, Colombia, multiregional model

The Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and USA: What can happen to Colombia?

In order to assess the impact of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Colombia and the United States of America, we describe the characteristics of the Colombian economy emphasizing its trade patterns and perspectives and identifying the sectors and regions that are likely to be the most sensitive to a FTA. We argue that the effects of a bilateral trade agreement between the USA and Colombia would be similar to those of past trade reforms. We first analyze the effect of past reforms over a diverse sample of countries such as Chile, Colombia and Mexico and then, using an applied general equilibrium model, simulate the effects over the Colombian economy of a bilateral agreement with USA. The simulations show that, although small, there is an increase in welfare and production of the Colombian consumers and firms.

Getting Ready for SDG Implementation in Latin America: The Example of Colombia

The SDG agenda has been a key focus of Colombian foreign policy over the last two years. The government has sought alignment between its international commitments and its national development priorities, and created an inter-ministerial Commission to follow up SDG implementation in February 2015, even before the SDGs were agreed

Informal Workers and Collective Action: A Global Perspective

[Excerpt] Around the world, in countries as far flung as Cambodia and Brazil and in industries as diverse as transportation and hospitality, workers in informal employment, who labor every day with no legal or social protection, are organizing and negotiating for better conditions. Some of them are self-employed; others work for wages in either formal or informal enterprises. Some used to have jobs in the formal sector with a union contract; others have always worked informally. To achieve their goals they are mounting collective action campaigns that draw on the repertoire of past generations of workers, but they often recombine them or innovate to fit their unique contexts. Informal workers, their organizations and their campaigns, represent the leading edge of the most significant change in the global labor movement in more than a century. This book tells the story of nine such campaigns

In the shadow of the ICC: Colombia and international criminal justice

The report of the expert conference examining the nature and dynamics of the role of the International Criminal Court in the ongoing investigation and prosecution of atrocious crimes committed in Colombia. Convened by the Human Rights Consortium, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the School of Advanced Study, University of London University of London, 26–27 May 2011

A Regional Economic Policy for Colombia

This paper proposes a framework for a regional economic policy in Colombia. The regional characteristics and disparities of the country are studied, and regional disparities are shown to be both significant and persistent over time. This calls for a policy initiative to promote the development of the poorer regions of the country. The studyhere draws lessons from other cases of the regional economic policy, and proposes a framework based on the regional policy initiative that is currently being implemented in Brazil.Economía regional, política regional, disparidades, convergencia