Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Economía y Negocios
Abstract
This paper reviews industrial policy in Latin America from the Great Depression to our
days. Its purpose is to derive some lessons for what Latin American and Caribbean
countries (LAC) should do in this area. It has become clear over the last few years that
LAC, if they are to accelerate their growth rates, need more than a good macroeconomic
framework and the protection of property rights: they need to be more proactive in
transforming their production structures, still too dependent on primary commodity exports
or the assembly of final goods from imported components, sectors that are ill-suited to the
productive development jumps that have been associated with high growth in the
developing world over the past 60 years