Introduction and Motivation for the Project

Author(s):  
Guillermo Cruces ◽  
Gary S. Fields ◽  
David Jaume ◽  
Mariana Viollaz

This book examines the links between economic growth, changing employment conditions, and the reduction of poverty in Latin America in the 2000s. Its contribution is an in-depth study of the multi-pronged growth–employment–poverty nexus based on a large number of labour market indicators (twelve employment and earnings indicators and four poverty and inequality indicators) for a large number of Latin American countries (sixteen of them). It presents an exhaustive analysis of the growth–employment–poverty nexus which directly relates changes in all labour market indicators to economic growth, and changes in all employment and earnings indicators to changes in poverty. It also bases its analysis on a broader set of labour market indicators than those used in other studies.

Author(s):  
Guillermo Cruces ◽  
Gary S. Fields ◽  
David Jaume ◽  
Mariana Viollaz

This book examines the links between economic growth, changing employment conditions, and the reduction of poverty in Latin America in the 2000s. Its analysis answers the following broad questions: Has economic growth resulted in gains in standards of living and reductions in poverty via improved labour market conditions in Latin America in the 2000s, and have these improvements halted or been reversed since the international crisis of 2008? How do the rate and character of economic growth, changes in the various employment and earnings indicators, and changes in poverty and inequality indicators relate to each other? Our contribution is an in-depth study of the multi-pronged growth–employment–poverty nexus based on a large number of labour market indicators (twelve employment and earnings indicators and four poverty and inequality indicators) for a large number of Latin American countries (sixteen of them). The book presents a positive and hopeful set of findings for the period 2000 to 2012–13. Economic growth took place and brought about improvements in almost all labour market indicators and consequent reductions in poverty rates. But not all improvements were equal in size or caused by the same things. Some macroeconomic factors were associated with changes in labour market conditions, some of them always in the welfare-improving direction and others always in the welfare-reducing direction. Most countries in the region suffered a deterioration in at least some labour market indicators as a consequence of the international crisis of 2008, but the negative effects were reversed very quickly in most countries.


Author(s):  
Guillermo Cruces ◽  
Gary S. Fields ◽  
David Jaume ◽  
Mariana Viollaz

During the 2000s, El Salvador experienced slow economic growth for Latin American standards. The country underwent a recession during the international crisis of 2008, but returned to pre-recession output level in 2011. Changes in labour market conditions were mixed. The unemployment rate fell, and the mix of employment by occupations, economic sector, and education improved slightly. However, the employment mix by occupational position deteriorated, and the share of registered workers and earnings decreased. Most labour indicators were affected adversely by the crisis, and some have yet to return to pre-crisis levels. Most poverty and inequality indicators fell over the period.


Author(s):  
Guillermo Cruces ◽  
Gary S. Fields ◽  
David Jaume ◽  
Mariana Viollaz

The Latin American region exhibited an increase in gross domestic product per capita during the 2000s, an improvement in all employment and earnings indicators, and poverty and inequality reductions. On a country-by-country basis, all Latin American countries exhibited positive GDP per capita growth rates during the 2000s. Most countries experienced substantial improvements in labour market conditions over the period, Honduras being the only exception to this general pattern. Finally, the growth rates of most countries in the region were negatively affected by the international crisis of 2008, which also affected several labour market indicators in the worsening direction. Most labour market indicators had fully or partially recovered by 2012–13.


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 872-873
Author(s):  
Pilar Domingo

Elusive Reform is an important and welcome addition to the still underdeveloped area of political science analysis of judicial institutions in Latin America. Few volumes to date have undertaken such an in-depth study of the complex issue of rule of law and its problematic construction in fragile democratic systems in the region. The book analyzes the experience of rule of law reform in Argentina and Venezuela, with some comparative reference to other Latin American countries.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolás Badaracco ◽  
Leonardo Gasparini ◽  
Mariana Marchionni

Fertility rates significantly fell over the last decades in Latin America. In order to assess the extent to which these changes contributed to the observed reduction in income poverty and inequality, we apply microeconometric decomposition to microdata from national household surveys from seven Latin American countries. We find that changes in fertility rates were associated with a nonnegligible reduction in inequality and poverty in the region. The main channel was straightforward: lower fertility implied smaller families and hence larger per capita incomes. Lower fertility also fostered labor force participation, especially among women, which contributed to the reduction of poverty and inequality in most countries, although the size of this effect was smaller.


2009 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 928-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Tafunell

Investment in machinery is a key component in the analysis of long-term economic growth during the spread of industrialization. This article offers consistent annual series on the magnitude of machinery imports per capita into all Latin American countries for the period 1890-1930. Analysis of these series shows that machinery imports diverged across countries from 1890 through 1913. After 1913 a number of the more backward countries experienced rapid growth in machinery imports. These large differences in machinery investment contributed to unequal development across the Latin American countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (316) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Eduardo Ramírez Cedillo ◽  
Francisco López Herrera

<p>Se analiza la relación del crecimiento económico con el gasto público de 16 países latinoamericanos de 1990 a 2017. Este trabajo contribuye a la literatura sobre el tema enfocándose en la región. Los resultados de un modelo para paneles cointegrados respaldan la ley de Wagner en el largo plazo y brindan evidencia parcial a favor de las hipótesis de Keynes en el corto plazo.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p align="center">PUBLIC SPENDING AND GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA:</p><p align="center">WAGNER´S LAW AND KEYNES’S HYPOTHESIS<strong></strong></p><p align="center"><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p><p>The relationship between economic growth and public spending in 16 Latin American countries from 1990 to 2017 is analyzed. This paper contributes to the literature on the subject focusing on the region. The results from a model of cointegrated panels support Wagner’s Law in the long term and provides partial evidence in favor of the Keynesian hypotheses in the short term.</p>


Author(s):  
Leonardo Gasparini ◽  
Pablo Glüzmann

This article takes advantage of a new source of information, the 2006 Gallup World Poll, to estimate and characterize income poverty and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at the country level, and to compare LAC with other regions in the world. The Gallup survey has the advantage of being conducted in over 130 nations with almost the same questionnaire; it stands as a complement to national household surveys for international comparison purposes. Our results confirm that Latin American countries are among the most unequal in the world, but we also find, considered as a single unit, Latin America is less unequal than other regions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-784
Author(s):  
DAVID ALTMAN ◽  
ROSSANA CASTIGLIONI

AbstractThe fact that equitable social policy expanded drastically in Latin America during the left turn and during a time of prosperity does not necessarily mean that the ideological color of governing parties and economic growth are the engines behind changes in social policy, as is usually claimed by part of the literature. Using panel data from Latin American countries for 1990–2013, this paper offers an alternative explanation, derived from previous qualitative research, that the level of political competition, the strength of civil society, and wealth are the key factors behind the expansion of equitable social policy. Once these explanations are included in our models, the ideological leaning of governments and economic growth lose statistical significance. Thus, this paper challenges dominant approaches that consider social policy change in Latin America a consequence of the ideological leaning of the government and economic growth.


Author(s):  
Guillermo Cruces ◽  
Gary S. Fields ◽  
David Jaume ◽  
Mariana Viollaz

In the great majority of Latin American countries in the 2000s, economic growth took place and brought about improvements in almost all labour market indicators and consequent reductions in poverty rates. Across these countries, economic growth was not all that mattered; external factors were particularly important for changes in labour market conditions, while reductions in poverty were strongly related to improvements in earnings and employment indicators. Although the 2008 crisis affected some countries differently from others, nearly all labour market indicators were at least as high or higher by 2012 than immediately before the crisis in all countries but one.


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