South American transport statistics system (Setas)

A meeting of experts was held in Santiago, Chile on 27 and 28 October 1999 to mark the start of the project for the development of the South American Transport Statistics System (SETAS). The main objective of the meeting was to analyse different elements for the development of a SETAS pilot project. The meeting was attended by representatives of Bolivia, Brazil and Chile, the countries chosen to participate in this early stage of the project's development. Officials from the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), and from the Statistics and Economic Projections Division and the Transport Unit, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division of ECLAC also participated. This edition of the FAL Bulletin focuses on this regional effort, listing the specifications and components of the SETAS pilot plan and the results expected from its implementation.

South American Transport Statistics System (SETAS)- Analysis of pilot project

The SETAS pilot project was carried out by the ECLAC Transport Unit, between October 1999 and May 2000 to assess the feasibility of constructing a transport statistics information system for South America. As this would entail a major effort to establish common statistical procedures and criteria between countries, the pilot project attempted to assess the potential of using informatics techniques for standardizing a significant set of regional transport statistics variables.The pilot phase involved specialized transport statistics institutes from Bolivia, Brazil and Chile — the countries chosen to participate in the initial stage of the project. There was also participation by staff members from the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), and from the ECLAC Statistics and Economic Projections Division, the Electronic Information Centre and the Transport Unit of the Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division.This edition of the FAL Bulletin explains on the components of the SETAS pilot project and the results obtained.

Monitoring living conditions and poverty in South Africa

Includes bibliography

The employment situation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Labour productivity and distribution issues

Although the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean grew more slowly in 2011 than in 2010, there were some improvements on the employment front. Workers benefited from the region’s satisfactory economic performance in an increasingly complex international setting. The unemployment rate fell from 7.3% in 2010 to 6.7% in 2011 thanks to a halfpercentage- point gain in the urban employment rate. Both rates are at levels that have not been seen for a long time. The proportion of formal jobs with social benefits rose as well, and underemployment declined. The average wage and the minimum wage both increased in real terms, albeit only moderately. Economic performance and the employment situation varied widely among the subregions. The unemployment rate dropped by 0.6 percentage points in South America but 0.4 percentage points in the countries of the northern part of Latin America. In the countries of the Caribbean, the employment rate was up by 0.2 percentage points. The data show that substantial labour market gaps and serious labour-market insertion issues remain. This is especially the case for women and young people, for whom unemployment rates and other labour indicators are still unfavourable. The second part of this report looks at whether the fruits of economic growth and rising productivity have been distributed equitably between workers and companies. Between 2002 and 2008 (the most recent expansionary economic cycle), wages as a percentage of GDP fell in 13 of the 21 countries of the region for which data are available and rose in just 8. This points to redistribution that is unfavourable to workers, which is worrying in a region which already has the most unequal distribution of income in the world. Underlying this trend is the fact that, worldwide, wages have grown less than productivity. Beyond the ethical dimension of this issue, it jeopardizes the social and economic sustainability of growth. For example, one of the root causes of the recent financial crisis was that households in the United States responded to declining wage income by borrowing more to pay for consumption and housing. This turned out to be unsustainable in the long run. Over time, it undermines the labour market’s contribution to the efficient allocation of resources and its distributive function, too, with negative consequences for democratic governance. Among the triggers of this distributive worsening most often cited in the global debate are market deregulation and its impact on financial globalization, technological change that favours capital over labour, and the weakening of labour institutions. What is needed here is a public policy effort to help keep wage increases from lagging behind increases in productivity. Some countries of the region, especially in South America, saw promising developments during the second half of the 2000s in the form of a positive trend reversal in wages as a percentage of GDP. One example is Brazil, where a minimum wage policy tailored to the dynamics of the domestic market is considered to be one of the factors behind an upturn in the wage share of GDP. The region needs to grow more and better. Productivity must grow at a steady pace, to serve as the basis for sustained improvements in the well-being of the populace and to narrow the gap between the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean and the more advanced economies. And inequality must be decreased; this could be achieved by closing the productivity gap between upgraded companies and the many firms whose productivity is low. As set out in this report, the region made some progress between 2002 and 2010, with labour productivity rising at the rate of 1.5% a year. But this progress falls short of that seen in other regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa (2.1%) and, above all, East Asia (8.3%, not counting Japan and the Republic of Korea). Moreover, in many of the countries of the region these gains have not been distributed equitably. Therein lies a dual challenge that must be addressed: continue to increase productivity while enhancing the mechanisms for distributing gains in a way that will encourage investment and boost worker and household income. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimate that the pace of economic growth in the region will be slightly slower in 2012 than in 2011, in a global economic scenario marked by the cooling of several of the main economic engines and a high degree of uncertainty concerning, above all, prospects for the euro zone. The region is expected to continue to hold up well to this worsening scenario, thanks to policies that leveraged more favourable conditions in the past. This will be felt in the labour markets, as well, so expectations are that unemployment will edge down by as much as two tenths of a decimal point.

A study on the capacity of statistical offices of the Caribbean to produce Environment, Social, Economic and Gender Statistics

Statistical organizations of the Caribbean countries continue to face serious challenges posed by the increased demand for more relevant, accurate and timely statistical data. Tangible progress has been made in delivering key products in the area of economic statistics. The central banks of the subregion have assisted greatly in this respect. However, even in this branch of statistics there are still several glaring gaps. The situation is even worse in other areas of statistics including social and environmental statistics. Even though all countries of the subregion have committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as to other internationally agreed development goals serious challenges remain with respect to the compilation of the agreed indicators to assist in assessing progress towards the goals. It is acknowledged that appreciable assistance has been provided by the various donor agencies to develop statistical competence. This assistance has translated into the many gains that have been made. However, the national statistical organizations require much more help if they are to reach the plateau of self reliance in the production of the necessary statistical services. The governments of the subregion have also committed to invest more in statistical development and in promoting a statistics culture in the Caribbean. The training institutions of the subregion have also started to address this urgent need by broadening and deepening their teaching curricula. Funding support is urgently required to develop the appropriate cadre of statistical professionals to deliver the required outputs. However, this training must be continuous and must be sustained over an appropriate period since the current turnover of trained staff is high. This programme of training will need to be intensive for a period of at least five years after which it may be reduced. The modalities of training will also have to be more focused and in addition to formal training at educational institutions there is much room for on-the-job training, group training at the national level and much more south-south capacity building. There is also an urgent need to strengthen cooperation and collaboration among the donor community in the delivery of assistance for statistical development. Several development agencies with very good intentions are currently operating in the Caribbean. There is a danger however, that efforts can be duplicated if agencies do not collaborate adequately. Development agencies therefore need to consult with each other much more and share there development agenda more freely if duplication is to be averted. Moreover, the pooling of resources can surely maximize the benefits to the countries of the subregion.