Financial Development and TFP Growth: Cross Country and Industry Level Evidence

This paper estimates the impact of financial development on industry-level total factor productivity (TFP) growth using a largely unexploited panel of 77 countries with data for 26 manufacturing industries for the years 1963 to 2003. A significant relationship is found between financial development and industry-level TFP growth when controlling for country-time and industry-time fixed effects. The results are both statistically and economically significant. TFP growth can accelerate up to 0.6 percent per year, depending on the external finance requirement of industries, following a one standard deviation increase in financial development. The results are robust to different samples and specifications

Keeping the Promise of Social Security in Latin America

Empirical analysis of two decades of pioneering pension and social security reform in Latin America and the Caribbean shows that much has been achieved, but that critical challenges remain. In tackling this unfinished agenda, a great deal can be learned from the reform experience of countries in the region. 'Keeping the Promise of Social Security in Latin America', produced by the chief economist's office in the Latin America and Caribbean Region at the World Bank, evaluates policy reforms in 12 countries, points to successes and shortcomings, and proposes priorities and options for future reform. The authors argue that preventing poverty in old age should be the primary objective of public pension schemes, and that this goal can best be achieved by relentless efforts to extend coverage to broader segments of society, and by encouraging (though not necessarily mandating) personal saving. This publication belongs to the Latin American Development Forum Series (LADF), sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the World Bank.

Sources of Growth in Latin America: What Is Missing?

The country studies and their background papers included in this book were prepared for the Latin America and the Caribbean section of the "Global Research Project: Explaining Growth" of the Global Development Network (GDN), a research effort conducted in association with the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA). Latin American countries are falling behind. The growth record of Latin America in the recent past has been poor. For decades the average income per capita in Latin America has fallen relative to those of other countries, raising concerns about the capacity of the region to emulate more successful developing countries and lift its living standards closer to those of the developed world. What is failing? Two overview chapters, six country studies and four background thematic studies have been assembled in this book to present a comprehensive answer to this question