Swallowing the Bitter Pill

1998 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 539-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
KURT WEYLAND

What accounts for the surprisingly widespread popular approval that painful neoliberal reforms elicited in several Latin American countries? This article compares the explanatory power of two rival hypotheses, which draw on conventional rational choice and psychological decision theory. The compensation hypothesis claims that governments can engineer support for costly reforms by compensating the losers through targeted social benefits. The rescue hypothesis questions this claim and maintains that draconian adjustment only finds support if it promises to revert a deep crisis and avert further losses. Data from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela suggest that the rescue hypothesis accounts much better for the initial endorsement of neoliberal shock programs immediately after their enactment. When these shock programs bring about economic stabilization and recovery, targeted social benefits help consolidate support for neoliberalism, which a statistical analysis of the impact of social spending on voting in Argentina's and Peru's presidential elections of 1995 reveals.

2008 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-308
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Allegret ◽  
Alain Sand-Zantman

This paper assesses the monetary consequences of the Latin-American integration process. Over the period 1991-2007, we analyze a sample of five Latin-American countries focusing on the feasibility of a monetary union between L.A. economies. To this end, we study the issue of business cycle synchronization with the occurrence of common shocks. First, we assess the international disturbances influence on the domestic business cycles. Second, we analyze the impact of the adoption of different exchange rate regimes on the countries' responses to shocks. .


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla María Alvarado-Ramírez ◽  
Víctor Hipólito Pumisacho-Álvaro ◽  
José Ángel Miguel-Davila ◽  
Manuel F. Suárez Barraza

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare the practices of continuous improvement that are applied in medium and large manufacturing and service companies in two Latin American countries. At the same time, benefits and barriers experienced by these companies with regard to sustainability of continuous improvement are explored.Design/methodology/approachIn order to generate a comparative study between two Latin American countries, interviews were conducted with managers linked to continuous improvement in medium and large companies in the State of Puebla and the Metropolitan District of Quito, which are important areas in Mexico and Ecuador, respectively. Data were collected by means of document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and direct observation.FindingsCompanies in both countries identify the use of various techniques and/or tools for continuous improvement. The results of the empirical evidence show how the impact of the application of the techniques has been beneficial in economic and human terms. Thus, the exploratory study has permitted the identification of the drivers and inhibitors in the maintenance of continuous improvement.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based on only two areas of the Latin American countries: Mexico and Ecuador. Their results can therefore not be generalized. The approach is applied in a specific environment, namely, the State of Puebla and the Metropolitan District of Quito. This study incorporates the perception of managers, directors, and/or supervisors involved in continuous improvement processes.Practical implicationsThis paper seeks to provide analytical input. The study is of great interest to researchers, managers, consultants, and professionals linked to projects of continuous improvement who wish to incorporate continuous improvement practices which are sustainable over time. A new managerial behavior is the basis of continuous improvement, where the training and development of the human resource increases the commitment to achieve organizational changes.Originality/valueThis research makes an empirical contribution to the literature through the understanding of practices of continuous improvement in a Latin American context, highlighting the factors that improve or impede the process of continuous improvement. Particularly in Mexico and Ecuador, the empirical evidence on this subject is still scarce despite the existence of theoretical academic literature.


Significance On January 23, Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC) called for presidential elections to be brought forward to before April 30. The move has exacerbated an already fraught political situation and undermined dialogue between the government and opposition parties. Impacts US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Jamaica from February 1; Venezuela is a key issue. Oil sanctions would have a catastrophic effect on ordinary Venezuelans; Latin American countries are unlikely to come on board. US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech today will be scrutinised for what he says (or does not say) about Venezuela.


Author(s):  
Tjeerd Menno Boonman

ABSTRACTThis article analyzes sovereign debt defaults in four Latin American countries—Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico—for the period 1870-2012. The impact of sovereign defaults on real GDP growth is generally short-lived, while the impact in terms of output losses is deep and lasts long. Defaults in the period 1972-2012 show a deep and long-lasting impact compared to defaults in earlier periods. Moreover, the length of the contraction that follows a default is associated with favourable international conditions in the run-up to a default, while the depth of the contraction is associated with an expansive domestic economy in the run-up to a default. The results fit with boom–bust theories and sudden stop models.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-36
Author(s):  
Clara Luz Alvarez

Purpose – To assess the role of the judiciary in defining the Regulatory State and in regulating telecommunications in Mexico after almost 5 years of the creation of an independent regulator for telecommunications and broadcasting (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones) with authority in antitrust matters. Methodology/approach/design – To identify the most relevant judicial decisions in telecommunications and antitrust matters, research upon the context in which they were adopted, analyze the content of the decisions and identify the impact of such judicial decisions in the construction of the Mexican Regulatory State, and in the law, in regulation/acts of the regulator. Findings – The main findings are that: (1) the Mexican Regulatory State is a reality now, even if it is in its beginnings; (2) Congress is receptive to Judiciary´s decisions; and (3) deference by judiciary to the regulator is not a blank check, even if there are complex technical issues and a discretionary decision. Practical implications – The identification of a Regulatory State in Mexico evidences that there are deep changes in the traditional relationship between Congress and regulators. Also, the deference granted by the courts to regulators must be considered as a consequence of such Regulatory State. Nonetheless and despite the deference to regulators, Judiciary´s role in building the telecommunications and broadcasting sector is paramount, because judicial decisions ultimately define it. Originality/value – Major changes to telecommunications and broadcasting have taken place in Mexico in the last years. Therefore, there has been scarce research and analysis about the new role of regulators, legislators, and judges, in the so called Regulatory State in Mexico. Moreover, the experience of Mexico may be valuable for other scholars which are assessing public policy in their own Latin American countries or in countries with similarities to them.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Andre Assis de Salles

This work aims to estimate the idiosyncratic risk of Latin American economies and emerging economies using heteroscedastic conditional models to verify the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the risk associated with productive projects. The methodology used is based on the portfolio theory to estimate the idiosyncratic risk. The results highlight that Latin American economies are more susceptible to sanitary crises, such as the current pandemic, than emerging economies. The inability of emerging countries to generate the necessary savings to provide for their development imposes the need to attract resources for project financing and investment. Thus, determining the specific risk of Latin American countries is fundamental for international investors giving them another parameter when deciding on investment or financing on the continent. Originally, this work demonstrates how the sanitary crisis deriving from the Covid-19 pandemic affected the idiosyncratic or specific risk of Latin American economies using their capital market indicators. This study contributes to the assessment of Latin American economies specific risk or country risk at the beginning of the pandemic.


Author(s):  
Angelina Yur'evna Pshenichnikova

This article discusses the peculiarities of linguistic consciousness of the representatives of ethnoses of Latin American countries through the modern dialects of Spanish language. Analysis is conducted on the lexicon of the national cuisine of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The article includes the analysis of linguistic zones of the Spanish language. The goal lies in examination of the lexicon of national cuisine of Latin American countries and, and creation of culinary dictionary of Spanish-speaking countries. The author aims to determine the national-specific gastronomic realities of Latin American countries through the prism of ethno-cultural space, and establish correlation between the uniqueness of gastronomic realities with the mentality and fragments of the linguistic worldview of Latin American countries. The conclusion is formulated on the impact of loanwords upon the national culinary lexicon of Latin American countries. The author draws a chart with the lexemes of national cuisines of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In accordance with the linguistic zones of Spanish language, the national culinary lexicon is divided into three groups of indigenisms; considering the influence of other languages on the formation of the vocabulary of the regional Spanish language, the national culinary lexicon is divided into the following loanwords (Africanisms, Arabisms, Gallicisms, Anglicisms, and Italianisms). Lexical units, which are widespread in the territory of two, three, or four national dialects of the Spanish language are referred to as regionalisms. Lexical units that are characteristic to one national dialect of the Spanish language are referred to as variantisms. The proper names are allocated into a separate group. The scientific novelty consists in examination of the poorly studied national culinary lexicon of such Latin American countries as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.


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