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The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of economic openness on wage dispersion. To this end, using a fixed effects panel model, we evaluate the impact of exports and foreign direct investment (FDI), as well as productivity and education, on wage dispersion in 14 economic subsectors in Mexico during the period 1999-2021. The main findings show that: i) increasing exports tend to diminish wage dispersion; ii) the flow of FDI seems to increase wage dispersion; iii) productivity and the heterogeneity of the productive network are determining factors in the dynamics of average wages. In this context, it is important to implement a variety of industrial and labour policies to effectively absorb the dynamic advantages associated with economic openness, such as the reduction of wage dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the gap between the expected and real effects of Colombian trade liberalization policy. First, we stress the influence of international integration on Colombia's growth and development, and explains why moving toward more free trade has not contributed to the consolidation of high value-added industries in that country. Ultimately, we apply the theory of political cycles and suggest that political power in Colombia has contributed to get the country trapped into an international dependency on primary commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The especial characteristics of the Spanish electricity industry hinder the effective competition, in spite of the liberalization process developed. The high concentration in this industry facilitates the possible exercise of market power with the following negative consequences on electricity prices. Likewise, the high energy dependency and the greater participation of renewable energies would have an important impact on prices too. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of the liberalization of the Spanish electricity industry on the competition by means of an economic and institutional approach and, by extension, study other factors that have an impact on the household electricity prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the Pacific Alliance (PA) and the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) are economic regional integration agreements whose constitutive principles conform to the so-called open regionalism. However, when the AP was launched in 2011, with the Declaration of Lima, Mercosur had distanced from economic liberalism, and its political agenda, which had acquired especial relevance, led it to clashes with the United States. Some analysts came to speak of a confrontation between the efficient liberalizers of the PA and the inefficient statists of Mercosur. In this paper, I analyze both regional agreements. The research, based on documentary sources and statistics, aims to evaluate the ability of these two bodies to promote economic development through regional integration, an objective proposed in its constituent documents. The main conclusion is that AP is better prepared to achieve the proposed objective because of its commitment to deep integration and trade of global value chains. Another concluding remark is that political and ideological confrontation have become a disturbing element in the performance of Mercosur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The processes of the liberalization of markets, which have accompanied the recent global economic dynamics, have led to significant changes in the production of commercial crops. These changes have widened the inequality to access resources and income from commercial agriculture between men and women. Some women have organized themselves to respond to this situation and to improve various aspects of their lives. The aim of this paper is to analyse the processes of economic empowerment of rural women in Soni (Tanzania) when facing the mentioned unequal access to the production and distribution of income. These processes arise from the awareness of shared strategic interests. The data have been obtained from documental research and fieldwork, and the subsequent application of qualitative methodology to analyse data in the particular case of a village in the municipality of Soni, District of Lushoto, Northern Tanzania (2006-2009). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic policies implemented in the U.S. economy and other industrial nations during the years preceding the recent financial crisis have been strongly criticized for being too "liberal" regarding the functioning and regulation of markets. There are also those who question the vision and responsibility of the regulatory bodies. Furthermore, the crisis triggered criticism from some economists--led by Nobel prize winner Paul Krugman--with respect to the research agenda followed in the field of macroeconomics during the past thirty years. Specifically, these critics affirm that the theories and models based on rational expectations were incapable of both predicting the crisis and offering solutions to it. This paper questions the above charges. It mentions that (based on the same theoretical approaches that are now being criticized) several articles have alerted about the risks that were brewing in the U.S. economy. If there is something to criticize, it would be the models based on the New Keynesian Synthesis which, just as some decades ago, largely trusted that the economic cycle could be tackled using simple rules of monetary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Services account for 47% of global output and, as per several studies conducted, the liberalization of their trade brings more advantages than trade in goods. Despite of this fact, there has been little research on the subject, and the definition of services has remained controversial. Peru sticks to global trend, as services represent 65% of GDP and 75% of EAP. Moreover, the development of tertiary sector is essential to attain a hub position. This paper is aimed at identifying the potential trade in services with Asia Pacific, based on trade and liberalization indicators --this region accounts for nearly 18% of current world trade--. It considers the commercial behavior of Peru, as well as that of Chile and Colombia, which are regarded as competitors in their condition of "access platform" to the Andean sub region. It is concluded that there are many possibilities to intensify relations with Asia Pacific and policy recommendations that should be taken into account by the Peruvian foreign policy are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the international flows of capital are analyzed, mainly the directed ones towards tile underdeveloped countries during the Nineties. We emphasized the particular case of the direct foreign investment (FDI). We raised that, although, at the beginning of that decade the FDI entered those countries massively, at the moment, ill the early years of the new century, the main reasons that attracted it tend to finished for some countries, whereas in other they begin to act. In general, we concluded that several uncertainties in relation to the tendencies of the FDI in the next years exist, also we questioned the theoretically counteract paper of the foreign bank on the financial fragility of the developing countries. In this context, we analyzed the case of China, like an exception to the general tendency, from its economic opening of 1978, but, concluded that, with its enter to the World Trade Organization (WTO), its financial and banking system in particular, could emulate the general tendency and to undergo the pernicious effects of the loss off financial and monetary sovereignty, characteristic of most of the underdeveloped countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]