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- Volume 2017, Issue 122, 2017
CEPAL Review - Volume 2017, Issue 122, 2017
Volume 2017, Issue 122, 2017
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Social protection systems, redistribution and growth in Latin America
Authors: José Antonio Ocampo and Natalie Gómez-ArteagaAfter reviewing the debate over the relative merits of universalism and targeting in social policy, this paper assesses the present state of and challenges to social protection systems in Latin America. It shows that these systems expanded broadly but unevenly across the region during the decade from 2003 to 2013. In particular, there are still large inequalities in access to social protection by type of employment and household income. Contributory coverage is low, and while the coverage of non-contributory assistance has increased, benefits are generally small. The impact of social spending in the form of direct transfers is still low by comparison with developed countries. The paper also shows that the expansion of social protection systems has contributed more than GDP growth to poverty reduction.
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The progress and evolution of women’s participation in production and business activities in South America
Authors: Beatrice E. Avolio and Giovanna F. Di LauraIn 1994, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean approved the Regional Programme of Action for Women, whose guidelines remain in force thanks to a decision approved at the ninth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (Mexico City, 2004), thereby reaffirming their commitment to the goals prescribed for equitable participation by women in economic activities. The present article sets out to analyse the progress and evolution of women’s participation in production and business activities in South America, considering the situation of female employment, its evolution over the past decade and its differences from male employment. The article also analyses men’s and women’s time use, women’s share of employment in jobs with higher average earnings (executive positions) and women’s empowerment and economic autonomy (female entrepreneurs).
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Deindustrialization and economic stagnation in El Salvador
Author: Luis René CáceresThis study will analyse the deindustrialization process in El Salvador. Deindustrialization has been a factor in the Latin American countries since the 1980s and contributes to economic stagnation and quality job loss. The first section reviews selected studies in the literature on this subject and is followed by an exploration of the possible causes of deindustrialization in El Salvador. The idea that remittances may have triggered a bout of Dutch disease is the first possibility to be examined, but it is then ruled out. The focus then turns to the repercussions of economic reforms carried out in the 1990s and, by estimating cointegration equations, evidence is found that the extreme form of trade liberalization that was implemented in El Salvador is the chief reason for the contraction of tradable goods sectors. The study closes with a series of recommendations and conclusions.
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Economic growth and gender inequality: An analysis of panel data for five Latin American countries
Author: Alison Vásconez RodríguezAfter reviewing the debate over the relative merits of universalism and targeting in social policy, this paper assesses the present state of and challenges to social protection systems in Latin America. It shows that these systems expanded broadly but unevenly across the region during the decade from 2003 to 2013. In particular, there are still large inequalities in access to social protection by type of employment and household income. Contributory coverage is low, and while the coverage of non-contributory assistance has increased, benefits are generally small. The impact of social spending in the form of direct transfers is still low by comparison with developed countries. The paper also shows that the expansion of social protection systems has contributed more than GDP growth to poverty reduction.
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Who borrows to accumulate assets? Class, gender and indebtedness in Ecuador’s credit market
Authors: Carmen Diana Deere and Zachary B. CatanzariteThis article examines the propositions that wealth inequality supports credit market segmentation and that the financial system may reproduce economic inequality. Specifically, we discuss how the sources of credit and the purposes of borrowing may help perpetuate inequality. In Ecuador, the asset-poor are more likely than the asset-rich to borrow from the informal sector for expense purposes and to have higher debt-to-net-wealth ratios. We also investigate the correlates of borrowing by men and women to acquire assets and show that the main factor associated with holding asset debt for both men and women is having a formal savings account.
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Colombian agricultural product competitiveness under the free trade agreement with the United States: Analysis of the comparative advantages
Authors: Rémi Stellian and Jenny Paola Danna-BuitragoThis article studies the competitiveness of Colombian agricultural products relative to those of the United States, with a view to assessing the extent to which the free trade agreement between the two countries represents a risk or an opportunity for Colombia. Colombia’s revealed comparative advantages, in the trade zone it forms with the United States, are calculated for 60 groups of agricultural products and their derivatives, chosen from the Standard Classification for International Trade (SITC), using the method of the Center for International Prospective Studies and Information (CEPII). Most of the product groups display no comparative advantage or comparative disadvantage, so their competitiveness needs to be strengthened to enable trade in agricultural products with the United States to really contribute to the growth of the Colombian economy.
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Public transport, well-being and inequality: Coverage and affordability in the city of Montevideo
Author: Diego HernándezPublic transport is key to ensuring people’s ability to access the opportunities offered by the city. Unlike other types of transport such as automobiles, public transport is the means that exerts the least monetary pressure on users and most decommodifies mobility. This article analyses the levels of spatial coverage of public transport and the affordability of the service in Montevideo. It also seeks to identify patterns of stratification among diverse socioeconomic groups. The indicators presented show high levels of basic network coverage, coinciding with a growth pattern developed by following spatial and timetable demand. This coverage has a number of stratified differences in access, in particular when affordability is considered. The evidence indicates that household expenditure shows a regressive distribution in relation to access.
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Sectoral breakdown of total factor productivity in Chile, 1996-2010
Authors: Patricio Aroca and Nicolás GarridoThis article decomposes total factor productivity (TFP) by economic sector, using data from the Chilean economy’s input-output matrices for 1996, 2003 and 2010. The analysis focuses on the effects of changes in three areas: sectoral demand; the production mix and cross-sectoral transactions; and technological change. It finds that the latter two are the key drivers of productivity variations in the period analysed. Manufacturing industry; electricity, gas and water; and financial intermediation and business services have generated increases in the economy’s overall productivity, while the personal services sector may be acting as a constraint on growth. The article qualifies and contextualizes these conclusions.
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The impact of the minimum wage on income and employment in Mexico
This article analyses the effects of a rise in the minimum wage on wages and employment in Mexico. The source of variation is the equalization in late 2012 of the minimum wage in two areas of the country. Using the National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE), econometric analyses are performed of cross-section and individual panel data. The results of the first indicate that, on average, the hourly wage in zone B rose by between 1.6% and 2.6% for workers overall and between 1.8% and 3.3% for wage workers. The panel analysis yields similar results. Although the cross-section analysis does not show an impact in terms of employment, the panel data indicate that the probability of being an informal (formal) worker falls (rises) among those affected by the wage rise policy.
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Spatial distribution of the Brazilian national system of innovation: An analysis for the 2000s
Author: Ulisses Pereira dos SantosRegional inequality is an intrinsic characteristic of economic underdevelopment. Some structuralists have attributed this feature to the unequal distribution of the benefits of technical progress among subnational regions. This process is thought to be related to the spatial distribution of the components of the national innovation system, which is such that the available opportunities for taking advantage of the benefits of technical progress differ from one region in Brazil to the next. This study examines the distribution of science, technology and innovation assets among different Brazilian microregions in the years from 2000 to 2010. Its findings indicate that the territorial scope of the national innovation system expanded during the period under study to encompass a larger number of microregions and thus has come to exhibit a greater degree of spatial continuity. This process occurred in parallel with a trend towards a greater regional deconcentration of income in the country.
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Analysis of the duration of unemployment and outcomes for unemployed persons in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Although, at first glance, it would seem to be a contradiction in terms, official statistics indicate that both unemployment and economic activity in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are on a steep downward trend. However, a decline in unemployment can, in fact, occur in the midst of an economic recession if a portion of the actual unemployment rate is concealed by employment in the informal sector and/or by a significant number of people abandoning their job search. Using maximum likelihood estimates for homogeneous Markov matrices applied to household sample survey data for the period starting with the first half of 2012 and ending with the second half of 2013, this study analyses the average duration of unemployment and the outcomes for unemployed persons. The results indicate that long-term unemployment prompts some people to abandon their search for a job (whereupon they cease to be a part of the labour market) and others to move into the informal workforce.
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