Renewable energy and energy efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean: constraints and prospects

Includes bibliography

Coordination of public expenditure in transport infrastructure: analysis and policy perspectives for Latin America

Includes bibliography

Savings in Latin America after the mid 1990s: determinants, constraints and policies

Includes bibliography

Changes in the distribution of income and the New Economic Model in Colombia

Includes bibliography

Saving and investment under external and fiscal constraints

Includes bibliography

Brazil's second catch-up: characteristics and constraints

Includes bibliography

Structural constraints on development in Latin America and the Caribbean: a post-crisis reflection

Includes bibliography

Mexico: food price increases and growth constraints

Includes bibliography

Environmental planning in the Wider Caribbean and Latin America: constraints to an effective regional institutional structure

Includes bibliography

Review of the implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action in the Caribbean (1994-2004): achievements and constraints

Includes bibliography

Diagnosis of constraints on development and on further economic integration

The purpose of the present document is to set forth the diagnosis of infrastructure services in Latin America and the Caribbean carried out by the Infrastructure Services Unit of ECLAC. Although much of the diagnosis presented is applicable to all economic infrastructure services, this document places a strong emphasis on transport infrastructure and services, as their characteristics make them a potential constraint on the region’s economic and social development and on its continuing integration.

Structural constraints and determinants of economic growth in Cuba

Includes bibliography.

Financial constraints on economic development: Theory and policy for developing countries

This article contains a theoretical and policy analysis of the financial constraints on economic development in developing countries. Following a Keynesian interpretation, it concludes that financial policies are needed to relieve these constraints, given the natural tendency of financial systems to operate in ways that are dysfunctional to economic development. It then proposes three lines of policy that take account of the special characteristics of developing countries: resource allocation policies targeted at segments of strategic importance for economic and financial development; policies to control financial and external fragility; and compensatory policies of a more interventionist cast, in particular directed credit programmes for both public- and private-sector lending to complement resource allocation policies, and countercyclical regulatory barriers so that fragility can be better controlled.

The tourism sector and the global economic crisis: development implicatins for the Caribbean

Over the past two years the global economy has experienced substantial economic turmoil, resulting in severe economic contraction. While there has been a recent return to growth, this situation has impacted all economic sectors worldwide. In the highly tourism-dependent region of the Caribbean, the impact of the global economic crisis has been most notable on the tourism sector, which, from the early 1990s, became the key driver of economic growth for the region. The eventual emergence of this sector reflects an economic development history which was previously underpinned by the export of agricultural commodities, and subsequently by the adoption of the import substitution industrialization model as promulgated by Arthur Lewis. This was further stimulated by spectacular economic contraction in Caribbean economies during the 1980s as a result of changes in the global terms of trade for commodities, generally low levels of competitiveness for manufactured goods, as well as weak institutional and governance frameworks. Ultimately, many economies began to reflect fiscal and balance of payments constraints. By the end of the 1990s, too, evidence of declining competitiveness even in the tourism sector began to become apparent particularly when evaluated under the framework of the Butler Tourism Area Life- Cycle (TALC) model. The recent economic crisis, therefore, provides an opportunity to reflect on the overall approach to economic development in the Caribbean, and to assess the implications of the region’s response to the crisis. This analysis makes the case for the future development of the sector to be based on two broad strategies. The first is to deepen the integration of the tourism sector into the broader economy through the diversification of the regional tourism product, as well as the enhancement of linkages with other sectors, while the second is to expand the tourism sector into a total service economy through the introduction of new services. Considering linkages, the development of clusters and value chains to support the tourism sector is identified with respect to agriculture and food, handicraft, and furnishings. Among the new services identified are education, wellness, yachting and boating, financial services, and information and communications technologies (ICT). This overall strategy is deemed to be better suited to the macroeconomic realities of the Caribbean, where high labour costs and other structural rigidities require a high-valued specialty tourism product in order to sustain the sector’s global competitiveness.