Health Expenditure, Poverty and Economic Development in Latin America 2000-2005

Two of the main problems of many Latin American countries are poverty and low levels of expenditure on health. In many countries there has been little progress in this regard due to the lack of resources, and thus it is important to focus on the main policies that may improve Latin American development because its positive effect on income per capita and health expenditure. This article analyses the evolution of health expenditure, poverty indicators and economic development in American countries for the period 2000-2005, and focus on the important positive effect that the necessary increase in industrial development will have on poverty eradication and health improvement for the next years. Both national policies and international cooperation to development in the poorest countries of Latin America should favor all the factors of production which contribute to foster economic development, and particularly the investment in industry.Health Expenditure, Education, Development, Poverty

Economic Development of American and European Areas in 1951-99

We present a comparison, at area level, of production by sector in America, Western Europe, Central Europe, East Mediterranean and East Europe, including also Russia and former Ussr countries, and we analyse the main differences among these areas in economic development during the 20th century.

Los años 90 en América Latina: otra década de desigualdad persistente, pero con un poco menos de pobreza

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) En este trabajo se procesan 76 encuestas de hogares de 17 países latinoamericanos, para documentar las variaciones de la pobreza y la desigualdad durante los años 90. Mostramos que no hay ningún país en América Latina donde la desigualdad haya disminuido durante los años 90. La pobreza disminuyó en 10 u 11 de los 17 países de los que tenemos disponibles datos de encuestas, dependiendo de la medida de la pobreza empleada. Lo persistentemente elevado de la desigualdad impidió una mayor disminución de la pobreza.

Intra-industry trade in Latin America and the Caribbean

An increasingly important component of total world trade is intra-industry trade (IIT). The large volume of literature on IIT is reflective of this importance. However, this extensive literature has focused almost completely on explaining the causes of IIT. This focus has left a puzzling gap in the literature. Specifically, it is almost impossible to determine the level of IIT for a particular country or region. Further, there is almost no information on the level of IIT at the industry level either globally or for a region or country. In this paper we provide estimates of IIT for the world and for the countries of the Western Hemisphere. Further, we provide estimates of IIT for ten different SITC product categories on the same basis. The findings of the paper indicate that in most industries, IIT in Latin America is substantially lower overall than the world average. There are, however, substantial variations observed both by country and by industry. Because the results are the first available for the region as a whole, they should allow researchers to get a better picture of the extent of IIT in Latin America and the Caribbean by country and by industry.Intra-industry trade; Latin America

Testing for Stochastic and Beta-convergence in Latin American Countries

This paper uses time-series data from nineteen Latin American countries and the U.S. to test for income convergence using two existing definitions of convergence and a new testable definition of β-convergence. Only Dominican Republic and Paraguay were found to pair-wise converge according to the Bernard and Durlauf (1995) definition. More evidence of stochastic convergence exists when allowing for structural breaks using the two-break minimum LM unit root of Lee and Strazicich (2003). The results show greater evidence of convergence within Central America than within South America. Dominican Republic is the only country that complies with the neoclassical conditions of income convergence.Economic growth; Convergence; Latin America; Time-series

China?s Global Growth and Latin American Exports

China?s global expansion has led to concerns amongst other developing country exporters that they will be displaced by Chinese competition in their export markets. The paper develops a new index to measure the extent of the competitive threat which countries face from China, which is then applied to empirical data on US imports from China and 18 Latin American countries. It also presents new estimates of the impact of China on the value of Latin American exports to the US over the past decade, using an extension of constant market share analysis. It finds that, contrary to many previous studies, China has had a significant impact on the exports of a number of Latin American countries and that this has increased since China joined the WTO in 2001.China, Latin America, USA, exports, competitiveness

Spatial Patterns of Crop Yields in Latin America and the Caribbean

Because of the apparent slowdown in the growth of crop yield potential, the increasing share of farmers already using modern crop varieties, and the accelerating flow of knowledge on agricultural technology, one would expect to find gradual convergence inLatin america, crop yield, convergence, spillover, weather variability

Lost decades? : independence and latin America’s falling behind, 1820-1870.

This paper explores the connections between independence and Latin America’s relative decline during the half a century after independence. The release of the fiscal burden was partly offset by higher costs of self-government, while opening up to the international economy represented a handmaiden of growth. Colonial emancipation had a different impact across regions and widened regional disparities. Per capita income grew and though Latin America fell behind to the U.S. and Western Europe, improved or kept its relative position to the rest of the world. ‘Lost decades’ seems an unwarranted depiction of the period 1820-1870.Latin America; Independence; Growth; Falling behind; Lost decades;

Agricultural Productivity Growth, Efficiency Change and Technical Progress in Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper analyzes total factor productivity growth in agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1961 and 2007 employing the Malmquist Index, a non-parametric methodology that uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods. The results show that among developing regions, Latin America and the Caribbean shows the highest agricultural productivity growth. The highest growth within the region has occurred in the last two decades, especially due to improvements in efficiency and the introduction of new technologies. Within the region, land-abundant countries consistently outperform land-constrained countries. Within agriculture, crops and non-ruminant sectors have displayed the strongest growth between 1961 and 2001, and ruminant production performed the worst. Additional analysis of the cases of Brazil and Cuba illustrates potential effects of policies and external shocks on agricultural productivity; policies that do not discriminate against agricultural sectors and that remove price and production distortions may help improve productivity growth.Total factor productivity, Agriculture, Crops, Livestock, Latin America and the Caribbean, Malmquist Index