Transaction costs in the transportation sector and infrastructure in North America: exploring harmonization of standards

Includes bibliography

Reforms in the oil industry: the available options

Includes bibliography

An assessment of fiscal and regulatory barriers to deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in Guyana

Includes bibliography.

Labour costs and competitiveness in the Latin American manufacturing sector, 1990-1998

Includes bibliography

Reforming health-care management in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Property rights and the rural land market in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Competitiveness and efficiency in land transport

One of the consequences of the opening of the worlds economies - an integral part of globalization - is increased focus on the efficiency and costs of transport services (on which competitiveness is largely dependent). Countries with inefficient and costly transport services lose out, in terms of economic activity and income, to those with more appropriate transport services. The issue is particularly important in Latin America, where exports mainly consist of bulk consignments of products with comparatively low value/quantity ratios and transport costs are a major determining factor of c.i.f. prices.The determination of competitiveness indices in the long term, however, also needs to include the costs of pollution, congestion and accidents, in addition to the transport costs usually considered as part of the price of freight. Competitiveness, efficiency and the global costs of transport were the main subjects of an international seminar organized in conjunction with the Chilean Institute of Engineers and held on 9 and 10 September 2004 at the Headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Rules of origin and trade facilitation in preferential trade agreements in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Latin American South-South integration and cooperation: from a regional public goods perspective

Includes bibliography

Centroamérica: efecto de la integración con Estados Unidos sobre el mercado regional del maíz. Un análisis espacial de precios

Incluye Bibliografía

Chile and its "lateral" trade policy

Includes bibliography

Building community social capital

Includes bibliography

The impact of aid for trade on the cost and time to trade The case of Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography.

Rules of origin in economic integration agreements signed by countries belonging to the Latin American Integration Association

This article refers to rules of origin included in the main Economic Integration Agreements signed by members of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA). Issues relating to trade facilitation and reduction of transaction costs of international trade in goods are also discussed.The author is on the staff of the International Trade and Integration Division of ECLAC.