The economic costs associated with landlocked status

Two Latin American republics, Bolivia and Paraguay, lack sovereign access to ocean ports. Their landlocked status effectively forces them to export and import products through borders with neighbouring countries; for this purpose, they frequently use land transport modes which are intrinsically more costly than ocean transport. However, being distant from ocean ports is an attribute not only of landlocked countries; but also of states or provinces, such as Mato Grosso, in Brazil, or Tucumán, in Argentina, which belong to countries with direct access to the sea. If perfect political and economic integration were to be achieved in the region, the distances and topographic accidents between points such as La Paz, Bolivia, and Arica, Chile, or Asunción, Paraguay and Paranaguá, Brazil, would remain unchanged. What would disappear would be the delays at border crossings and their related costs. For the two landlocked countries, border expenses, although significant, are a relatively small fraction of the cost of the land segments of international transport. More important for these countries, are the dependency of infrastructure services and the institutional framework of the transit countries for the transport of their external trade.

Sustainable development 20 years on from the earth summit: progress, gaps and strategic guidelines for Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Economics of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean: summary 2009

Includes bibliography

Economics of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean: summary 2010

Spanish version available at the Library

Job losses, multinationals and globalization: the anatomy of disempowerment

Includes bibliography

Analysis of extreme events in the Caribbean 1990-2008

This study presents an analysis of extreme events in the Caribbean subregion for the period 1990 to 2008, and forms part of a similar, wider study focused on the Latin America and the Caribbean region (Central America and South America being the other two subregional components). It explores the economic costs of climate change through an examination of adaptation costs to extreme events. ECLAC, through its Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, is pleased to have been able to undertake this study with the financial support of DFID and to have ensured its successful execution in collaboration with technical expertise from the University of the West Indies.

Fostering economic policy coordination in Latin America: the REDIMA approach to escaping the prisoner's dilemma

Includes bibliography

Review of Caribbean economic and social performance in the 1980's and 1990's

Includes bibliography

Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC): new biregional trade and investment relations in a changing world economic environment$c

Includes bibliography

Model for analysing the social and economic impact of child undernutrition in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Fiscal policy and the economic cycle in Chile

Includes bibliography

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

Includes bibliography

Electric power costs and the functions of electricity undertakings

Report submitted by the Energy Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

An analysis of maritime transport and its costs for 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.