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The 1980s were both the lost decade of growth for much of Latin America and Africa and the period in which--through the new growth theory--macroeconomists returned to the study of growth and development. The new growth theory is production function driven and concerned primarily with steady states, and has paid little attention to the role of macroeconomic policy--as reflected for instance in the rate of inflation and the budget deficit--in determining growth. This paper presents a variety of evidence that macroeconomics policies matter for long-run growth. First, macroeconomic variables enter the typical new growth theory cross-country regressions with statistical significance and the expected signs. Second, evidence from large multicountry case studies, and from case studies of Chile and Côte d'Ivoire presented in the paper, shows that macroeconomic policy choices have had a significant impact on growth over periods of more than a decade. The conclusion is that macroeconomic policy choices, including the budget deficit, the exchange rate system, and those choices that determine the inflation rate, matter for long-term economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the behavior of the Economic Fitness indicator as a measure of the international competitiveness of Latin American economies, as well as an indicator of their relationship with per capita income gaps and the Human Development Index (HDI). Positive correlations were found between per capita income gaps and the stagnation of the international competitiveness of Latin American economies, as well as between human development levels and the productive structure, suggesting a causal relationship between human development and competitiveness. This paper also finds that the Economic Fitness indicator fluctuates significantly when estimated using exports in domestic value-added, suggesting that the original estimate may over- or underestimate competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a descriptive analysis approach regarding the influence of some institutional variables on the economic growth in emerging countries. The sample consists of 20 countries covering different zones: European Emerging, Asia Pacific Emerging, Latin America, Middle-East and Africa. We analyze the evolution and the nature of the correlations of economic growth and some of its determinants such as corruption control, government stability and investment profile during 2000-2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the absence of comparable macroeconomic indicators for most of the Latin American economies before the 1930s, the apparent consumption of energy is used in this paper as a proxy of the degree of modernization of Latin America and the Caribbean. This paper presents an estimate of the apparent consumption per head of modern energies (coal, petroleum, and hydroelectricity) for 30 countries of the region, 1890 to 1925. As a result, it provides the basis for a quantitative comparative analysis of modernization performance beyond the few countries for which historical national accounts are available in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that there was a remarkable similarity in the external cycles in Latin America's economic history. The desarrollo hacia fuera, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean earlier designation for the World Bank's "outward-oriented" model, that prevailed in the last part of the nineteenth century until 1930, was from the beginning a financial-export model where financial integration to the world economy played a central role. An orthodox economic policy based on fiscal contraction, a high rate of interest, and incentives to external debt in order to sustain convertibility and free capital flows was a permanent strategy of this model. After a long period distant from the world financial markets, many Latin American countries received throughout the 1970s and especially during the 1990s, huge volumes of financial capital that brought about once again a similar pattern and strategy of international integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Latin America with a Granger causality test and impulse response functions in a panel vector autoregression (VAR) model. With annual observations from a sample of 18 countries from 1962 to 2005, it is shown that while economic growth causes financial development, financial development does not cause economic growth. This finding is robust to different model specifications and different financial indicators. Interestingly, when the sample is divided according to different income levels and institutional quality, there is two-way causality between financial development and economic growth only for the middle income group and for countries with stronger rule of law and creditor rights. The impulse response functions show that a shock to financial development has a positive impact on economic growth only for these subsamples, but the net effect of financial development on growth is relatively small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public debt, government current account saving and primary surplus: analysis of sustainability. On this paper, we propose a change in the primary surplus' target by the government current account saving. That concept excludes public investment from primary surplus. However, of that change has raised a question about if government current account saving represents a sustainable fiscal policy. Thus, this paper analyses if the change in the primary surplus' target by the government current account saving implies a meaning modification on the debt-to-GDP ratio path. The empirical analysis, which is based on Brazilian monthly data for the period 1999-2005, suggests that the change in fiscal target does not mean a lack of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the universe of literature on franchises, several studies have examined the impact of franchising on economic growth, tending to focus on growth rather than development, although the empirical research has already concluded that franchising does have an influence on economic growth. Likewise, some articles have underscored the importance and influence of franchising on development, but have failed to provide empirical proof of its true sway. With that in mind, this paper provides empirical evidence demonstrating the relationship between franchising and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how the socialpolitical and judicial factors have affected private investment in Venezuela and Latin America for the period 1995- 2003 by means of panel data analysis. In the case of Venezuela, there is evidence that the fall in the investment rate in Venezuela has been caused by these factors. In this way, it is necessary that not only the Venezuelan government but also the other Latin American governments begin working on the creation and strengthening of institutions so that risks are reduced and stability is enhanced. In this way, it is possible to endorse a sustained economic growth and better standards of living for Latin American citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capital account liberalization and economic growth: evidences from data in Latin-American panel. The aim of this paper is to carry out an empirical analysis about the relation between Capital Account Liberalization and Economic Growth having as object of study the experience of 16 countries of Latin America with annual data for the period 1986-2000. The econometrical calculations do not corroborate the hypothesis that the liberalization of Capital Account would stimulate the economic growth. The results suggest an adverse effect of the liberalization of the Capital Account on the real growth gross domestic product per capita of the countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Occupational Health is increasingly recognized as an area of importance in Latin American public health. In the agricultural sector of the region, the concentration of arable land into large holdings devoted to the production of export crops has resulted in the formation of a large migrant work force and greatly increased use of pesticides. The manufacturing sector of Latin America has grown rapidly in size and importance. Throughout the continent. increasing numbers of workers are employed in high hazard industrial jobs. Limited studies of occupational disease in agriculture. mining, and manufacturing suggest that there is a high prevalence of work-related illness in the populations at risk. Trade unions are generally weak. and the high rate of unemployment and underemployment render occupational health a low priority for many workers. Engineering controls and personal protective equipment are unknown or inadequate in many industries, and there is a shortage of trained occupational health professionals in the region. Steps are being taken by many Latin American governments to begin to address this problem. Needed are: increased worker and professional training; a uniform set of exposure standards: control of multinational marketing and usage of hazardous substances: the development of technical equipment appropriate for local use and increased research on occupational exposure in populations, in less developed countries. (Am J Public Health 1985:75:536-542.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]