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.

Institutional framework, co-modality and sustainable transport services

This issue of the FAL bulletin focuses on the problems which public institutions encounter when formulating transport policies and the challenge of designing and implementing systemic, integrated, sustainable transport policies in the current institutional framework in the countries of Latin America.

Compacts for Equality: Towards a Sustainable Future

The document which ECLAC presents on this occasion explores further the theme of equality addressed at the two previous sessions of the Commission, in Time for Equality: Closing Gaps, Opening Trails (2010, Brasilia), and Structural Change for Equality: An Integrated Approach to Development (2012, San Salvador). The document prepared for the thirty-fifth session, entitled Compacts for Equality: Towards a Sustainable Future, discusses the two major challenges to development in Latin America and the Caribbean today: to achieve greater equality and to make development sustainable for future generations. The various chapters examine the social, economic, environmental and natural resource governance constraints on sustainability, as well as the challenges associated with strategic development options. They also further explore the equality approach developed by ECLAC at previous sessions, treating the world of work as a key arena. Consumption is analysed as it relates to the economic, social and environmental spheres, highlighting its potential to increase well-being as well as its problematic externalities in terms of environmental sustainability, the fiscal covenant and the production structure, among others. The dynamics existing between production structures and institutions are explored, drawing attention to ways in which the efficient organization of institutions can help to maximize contributions to development. The document concludes with a set of medium- and long-term policy proposals that need to be enshrined in social covenants and policy instruments for implementing, in a democratic context, the policies and institutional reforms that the Latin American and Caribbean countries need to resolve the dilemmas they face at the current crossroads.

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.

Institutional report of the ECLAC subregional headquaters for the Caribbean on the support provided to Caribbean small island developing states for the implementation of the Mauritius strategy

This paper presents a review of the support provided by the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean to small island developing States in the Caribbean for the further implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action. This report forms part of the MSI+5 Review and addresses structural support through the establishment of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism and the Technical Advisory Committee, and the applied research conducted by ECLAC which is intended to lead to policy implementation.

Agricultural transformation and Gender considerations in Caribbean Economics

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the gender and social disparities existing in the agricultural and rural sector in Caribbean economies. In this context, agricultural transformation as occasioned by the dismantling of preferential trading arrangements is analysed to identify the most relevant gender discriminatory measures in the current agricultural development policy and programmes. The analysis seeks to provide the basis for enhancing understanding among policy makers, planners and rural development practitioners of the gender and social dimension involved in the formulation of agricultural policy and more specifically in relation to the new policy and institutional arrangements for agriculture in the region. The paper also provides insights regarding what changes should take place to create an enabling environment for more gender-based approaches to policy-making and strategic planning in agricultural development and trade in the Caribbean. The methodology centred on the review of secondary sources that provide references on the new challenges, opportunities and constraints faced by the agricultural sector, in particular small farmers, in the context of globalization and agriculture transformation. Much of the literature for this assignment was obtained from FAO Headquarters in Rome and the FAO Subregional Office in Barbados, as well as the OECS Secretariat in St. Lucia. In the process of the review exercise, due consideration was given to changes in agricultural production patterns, resources allocation and rural livelihoods. Efforts to examine the most relevant policy measures and mechanisms in-place in support to agricultural development in the region were constrained, in the main, by the absence of gender disaggregated data. Documentation as regards the situation of women and men in relation to agricultural labour, rural income and food security situation in regions were limited. The use of the internet served to bridge the communication gap between countries and institutions. The preliminary draft of the paper was presented and discussed at the FAO/ECLAC/UNIFEM regional workshop on mainstreaming gender analysis in agriculture and trade policies, for Caribbean countries, in November 2003. The second draft of the paper was informed by comments from the workshop and additional information acquired through field visits to Barbados, St. Kitts and St. Vincent in March 2004. The three day visits to each of these three countries entailed a review/appreciation of the resource, constraints and institutional capacities for gender mainstreaming within the agricultural sector at the national level. This included visits to some of the major agricultural projects and interviews with farmers (where feasible) in respect of their perspective of the current situation of the agricultural sector and the viability of their farm enterprises. As well, meetings were held with relevant/available officials within the respective ministries of agriculture to discern the gender consideration as regards agricultural policy and planning at the country level. The internet was invaluable to the task of sourcing supplementary information to satisfy the aim of the paper; in respect of the identification of concrete policy measures and actions to formulate and develop more gender/social-responsive agricultural development policies. The final revision, though thwart with resource and communication constraints, was ultimately completed in compliance with the structure and approach proposed in the terms of references for this FAO/ECLAC assignment.