2022

Working Paper- Link (Spanish) - 2022

Economic infrastructure in Latin America has shown a decreasing trend since the retraction of public infrastructure in the eighties. The reduction in investments favored an infrastructure gap that needs to be attended to. Recent concepts such as green infrastructure and natural capital should be considered when providing an effective response to the infrastructure gap. The present article deals with these issues.

Working Paper - Link (English) - 2022

This paper uses an augmented gravity trade model to examine the impact of Chinese exports to the United States on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) exports to the same market over the last two decades. The analysis relies on a sample of 33 LAC countries and trade data disaggregated to the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) level. The results show that the impact of Chinese exports on US imports from LAC is negative and statistically significant across model specifications and levels of aggregation in the trade data. The estimations show a displacement of LAC exports by China’s exports in the period under analysis of between 0.25 and 1.26 percent per percentage change in Chinese exports. In addition, the model suggests that after accounting for such export competition, Free Trade Agreements with the United States, on average, increased imports from LAC countries by up to 1.5 percent. That is, countries with a trade agreement with the US have an advantage over those without, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

Book Chapter - Link (English) - 2022

This chapter revisits ECLAC's structuralism thesis, which originated from key documents that highlighted Latin America's developmental challenges, emphasizing a global economic system that favored industrialized centers over peripheral regions like Latin America. Structuralism pointed out that industrialized countries enjoyed advanced technologies and high standards of living while Latin America faced economic and social weaknesses. ECLAC advocated for state intervention to promote industrialization and address these imbalances. The organization's efforts included promoting planning, economic statistics, and regional integration. In the 1970s, ECLAC emphasized export diversification and sustainable development. During the "lost decade" of the 1980s, it focused on short-term issues and debt renegotiation. In the 1990s, ECLAC championed "productive transformation with equity," advocating for gradual reforms. Recently, ECLAC has adopted a rights-based approach, considering multidimensional poverty and minorities and emphasizing sustainable human development.