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This article introduces a series of papers prepared for the "2016 Law and Development Conference: From the Global South Perspectives," held in Buenos Aires, Argentina and co-sponsored by Universidad Austral, the Law and Development Institute and the Inter-American Development Bank's Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL). The introduction aims to show one of the major contributions from the law and development field of study: scholars reveal the frequent disconnection between law and development; then, by uncovering contextual factors and proposing innovative solutions, they reconnect law with development. This provides an important support for the adoption of national development policies and the implementation of international development projects. Over forty years after the seminal paper by Trubek and Galanter,1 scholars are no longer in self-estrangement. The papers presented in the Special Issue illustrate this point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cluster policies around the world take many shapes and forms. This statement is particularly true in case of Asian countries where cluster policies are as much differentiated as the economies of the region. This diversity is illustrated by the following examples: the Knowledge Clusters in Japan, Specialized Towns Program in China, provincial cluster development policy in Thailand, craft villages in Vietnam and Micro and Small Enterprises - Cluster Development Programme in India. This paper indicates the policy creation process based on multi actors and multi levels as the source of this diversity. On the road to the best possible cluster policy mix, one should take into consideration the cohesion and adequacy of the policy established in the particular economy. Polityka klastrowa przyjbiera rózne formy i ksztalty w roznych miejscach swiata. Widac to wyraznie chociazby w krajach azjatyckich, gdzie podejscie do klastrów jest zróznicowane tak samo, jak zróznicowane sa gospodarki regionu, co zostalo pokazane na przykladzie klastrów wiedzy w Japonii, wyspecjalizowanych miast w Chinach, regionalnej polityki rozwojowej w Tajlandii, wiosek rzemieslniczych w Wietnamie oraz klastrów malych i srednich przedsiebiorstw w Indiach. Niniejszy artykul jako zródlo tego zróznicowania wskazuje proces tworzenia polityki oparty na wielu aktorach i wielu poziomach decyzyjnych. Dazac do idealnej kombinacji skladników polityki klastrowej (policy mix), musimy zaczac doceniac spójnosc i adekwatnosc polityki realizowanej w warunkach okreslonej gospodarki. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast literature describes the process of credit expansion that took place in the early 2000s in Brazil, which entailed a strong increase in consumer credit. Given the centrality of consumer credit not only in the determination of macroeconomic dynamics but also in the daily life of the population, the history of its evolution is a recurring and important theme in the context of developed countries. Such a history has, however, not been told for the Brazilian case. Using archival and other sources, this paper puts this process into historical perspective using a Social Structure of Accumulation framework. We find that the expansion of consumer credit has underpinned Brazil's accumulation regimes. Putting consumer credit to the historical test allows us to deepen the understanding of its modern expansion and the role played by this credit in the organization of the economic system through time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that a new agenda for the relations between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is necessary, and that city regions can play an important role in it. Due to the shortcomings of the previous interregional strategy and the futile discussion if Latin America follows the European integration model, this new agenda should focus more on triangular and decentralized forms of cooperation aid, trade issues, and the knowledge transfer of poverty- and polarization-reduction strategies. Based on the foreign policy approaches of two Colombian case studies (the city-regions of Barranquilla and Medellin), it is shown that the international activities of Latin American city-regions can open new perspectives for EU-LAC relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has entered the new millennium with the goal of returning to the club of the great world powers and is running as the clearest candidate to dispute the hegemonic power of the United States. The "Chinese dream of revitalization of the great Chinese nation" and the "community of destiny" have become two of the main foreign policy purposes of the current president, Xi Jinping. In both concepts, the economic arena occupies a priority place. In this context, the economic statecraft, understood as the manipulation of international economic activities by a State to achieve strategic objectives (Norris, 2010) becomes a fundamental tool for Beijing in the framework of consolidation of its global power. It has also become an effective means to attract Latin American countries, rich in the natural resources that China needs to sustain its economic growth rates. In this regard, the Asian giant has established strategic partnerships aimed at strengthening ties with Beijing, which focus on trade, investment and finance (priority areas of action in the economic statecraft). This paper intends to analyze the economic statecraft that China deploys in Latin America and its link with the establishment of strategic associations in the region, in order to understand if they contribute to give an institutional framework to the economic policy of power that China deploys in the region. For this, we will take the case of the Argentina-China relationship at the beginning of the 21st century, analyzing its process of approach and evolution of bilateral political-diplomatic relations until the signing of the 2014 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use economic policy uncertainty index, and impulse response based test to assess the impact of economic policy-related uncertainty on real economic activity. We use monthly data, over the period from 1985:1 to 2015:3, and impulse response functions to investigate how the economies of the G7 countries respond to positive and negative economic policy uncertainty shocks of different magnitudes. We find that economic policy uncertainty is countercyclical, that the effects of uncertainty shocks increase with size and that the responses of real output to positive and negative economic policy uncertainty shocks are country specific. Our research is important for policymaking and in favour of policies that remove economic uncertainty and its negative effects on the economy. We argue that some control over yellow journalism, a transparent tax system and a set of predictable fiscal and monetary policies can minimize the social costs of economic policy uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the current human development experience of CARICOM nations focusing on the interconnected challenges of poverty, production and the environment that show continuing uneven development. Using an extended structuralist framework based on international political economy dynamics, it incorporates organizational dynamics and domestic politics, especially the role of rents in influencing productive and inclusive development. In this way, the article examines the 2016 Caribbean Human Development Report (CHDR) and finds evidence that human development, proxied by expenditures on education and healthcare, has decoupled from productive capability evinced by decreasing industrial output. We concur with recent critiques of the human development paradigm (HDP) that it has ignored a productionist view of development and thus limits the scope of development policy to bring about broad production transformation. By and large, structural heterogeneity also represents a challenge in CARICOM countries. Linked to questions of development finance, we find that the CHDR's analysis of environmental concerns offers a narrow instrumentalist view and further marginalizes a deeper understanding of CARICOM countries' asymmetrical relationship with transnational forces in the global economy. This contribution offers an integrated approach showing continued peripheralization and helps identify structural, socio-political and technical drivers that underpin the region's complex development challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]