- Home
- A-Z Publications
- CEPAL Review
- Previous Issues
- Volume 2011, Issue 103, 2011
CEPAL Review - Volume 2011, Issue 103, 2011
Volume 2011, Issue 103, 2011
Cepal Review is the leading journal for the study of economic and social development issues in Latin America and the Caribbean. Edited by the Economic Commission for Latin America, each issue focuses on economic trends, industrialization, income distribution, technological development and monetary systems, as well as the implementation of reforms and transfer of technology. Written in English and Spanish (Revista De La Cepal), each tri-annual issue brings you approximately 12 studies and essays undertaken by authoritative experts or gathered from conference proceedings.
-
-
The growing and changing middle class in Latin America: An update
Authors: Rolando Franco, Martín Hopenhayn and Arturo LeónThis paper employs a two-dimensional definition of the middle class that combines the occupation of the main household income provider (manual or non-manual) with family income as a proxy for consumption. This makes it possible to explore “objective” changes in the Latin American middle class between 1990 and 2007. “Subjective” changes in class values, aspirations and identity, among other things, are also analysed. The most salient findings are the growth of the middle class in both relative and absolute terms, the increase in education across the board (overshadowed by the devaluation of its relative importance for income generation) and the declining relevance of the distinction between manual and low-level non-manual occupations as an income determinant. The heterogeneity of the middle strata is brought to light in both vertical and horizontal sections for different types of risks and levels of well-being characteristic of households in each segment.
-
-
-
Wage inequality in Latin America: A decade of changes
Authors: Dante Contreras and Sebastián GallegosThis work helps to explain the determinants of wage distribution in Latin America in the 1990s. The study employs the basic model of wage variance decomposition developed by Fields (2002), on the basis of an estimated Mincer wage equation adjusted for selection bias, which enables quantification of the impacts of the different explanatory variables of wage inequality. One of the main findings is that education is by far the most important factor in wage inequality in the region. What is more, it has become more significant over time, even though the explanatory power of the model has remained stable.
-
-
-
Latin America: Financial systems and financing of investment Diagnostics and proposals
Authors: Luis Felipe Jiménez and Sandra ManuelitoThis work examines the main characteristics of the financial systems of Latin America, in order to develop proposals for strengthening investment finance in the region. First, a diagnostic is given of the investment-supporting capacities of the region’s banking systems, stock and bond markets, and flows of external financing. Next, an analysis is offered of the principal macroeconomic and microeconomic factors and a number of structural features that have had a hand in the region’s shallow financial development and the system’s failure to adapt to the needs of investment financing. Against this background, proposals are made for expanding the capacity of financial systems to support investment in firms of all sizes, and guidelines are offered for fostering access to long-term credit for smaller enterprises.
-
-
-
The “China effect” on commodity prices and Latin American export earnings
Author: Rhys JenkinsThe commodity boom between 2002 and 2008 played an important role in increasing export earnings from Latin America. Growing demand from China for primary products was one factor stimulating the boom. While the direct effects of the growth of exports from Latin America to China have been extensively explored, the indirect impact of higher Chinese demand for commodities on global commodity prices has received less attention. This paper estimates the contribution made by the growth of Chinese demand to the rise in the prices of the 15 main commodities exported from the region. On the basis of these estimates, it calculates the total gain for the region as a whole in export revenues from the “China effect” on world prices. It also provides estimates for 17 Latin American countries of the net effect of Chinese-induced price increases on their trade balances.
-
-
-
Latin America: Variability and persistence in commodity prices
Authors: Omar D. Bello, Fernando Cantú and Rodrigo HeresiThis article describes variability and persistence in the real prices of Latin America’s main export commodities. The results of this research show that real price index series for a large majority of commodities display high persistence to shocks; and, as they repeatedly suffer both positive and negative shocks, all commodities display multiple cycles. The rising price phase that began in the early 2000s differed from previous upswings in terms of its duration, nature and the number of products involved. As this is a just one cycle, however, it is impossible to claim that a definitive change has occurred in the cyclical pattern of commodity price series.
-
-
-
Bahamas and Barbados: Empirical evidence of interest rate pass-through
Authors: Daniel O. Boamah, Mahalia N. Jackman and Nlandu MamingiThis paper uses an error correction model to investigate empirically the effectiveness of central bank interest rate policy in influencing commercial banks’ lending rate behaviour in Barbados and the Bahamas using quarterly data for the period January 1995-April 2007. For Barbados, the study finds that the reaction of commercial bank lending rates to changes in the central bank’s policy rate is sticky in the short run, but fully complete in the long run. On average, it takes about four to six quarters for the full effect of changes in the central bank policy rate to be transmitted to the economy via adjustments. For the Bahamas, the reaction of commercial bank lending rates to changes in the central bank policy rate is fully complete in the short run and the long run, owing to a low adjustment cost coupled with the use of moral suasion.
-
-
-
MERCOSUR as an export platform for the automotive industry
Author: Valeria ArzaThe global automotive industry is dominated by a few multinational corporations which design global and regional strategies. If regional strategies prevailed over global ones, the Southern Common Market (mercosur) could become a competitive export platform. This paper reviews the extent to which trade agreements covering the automotive industry in mercosur have helped the region develop into a platform for exports to the rest of the world. Bilateral trade data from 1991-2005 and gravity models are used to evaluate trade creation and export market diversification in the automotive industry. The results show that, as of 2005, mercosur agreements had not turned the region into a platform for exports to external markets, although they had contributed to trade creation within the region.
-
-
-
Positional inconsistency: A new concept in social stratification
Authors: Kathya Araujo and Danilo MartuccelliBased on empirical research involving some 100 semi-directive interviews with individuals from different social groups, this article introduces and discusses the use of a new concept for analysing the phenomenon of social stratification in contemporary Chilean society, namely “positional inconsistency”. This describes a more or less permanent and generalized feeling of positional anxiety in the vast majority of social strata, which has specific characteristics that distinguish it from other similar processes (status fear, vulnerability, exclusion, mobility, for example). It is an experience which, although expressed in similar ways, is nonetheless fostered by a plurality of factors giving rise to a significant structural phenomenon.
-
-
-
The Brazilian sugar and alcohol sector: Evolution, productive chain and innovations
Authors: Eduardo Strachman and Gustavo Milan PupinThe sugar and alcohol sector is one of the fastest growing and developing areas of the Brazilian economy, although some specialists worry unduly that sugarcane cultivation will replace food-crop plantations. This article analyses how Brazil and the State of São Paulo became major players in that sector, and expounds a theory on the relevance of innovations for increasing competitiveness, productivity and the number of byproducts. The study analyses global value chains to gauge their importance and gain a better understanding of the sugar and alcohol sector. It shows that the value chain is under national control, unlike most other chains in which Brazil participates. Lastly, the article highlights the most recent innovations in the sector, which reflect a drive to improve competitiveness.
-
-
-
Brazil: An empirical study on fiscal policy transmission
Author: Tito Belchior Silva MoreiraThis article sets out to empirically determine whether the ratio between debt and gross domestic product (gdp) affected real and nominal variables such as the demand for money, the nominal interest rate, investment and the output gap, between January 1995 and March 2008. The specific aim is to identify fiscal-policy transmission channels and decide whether this policy was active or passive in the period in question. The study finds empirical evidence that fiscal policy was active and monetary policy passive —features that characterize a non-Ricardian model.
-
Volumes & issues
-
Volume 2023
-
Volume 2022
-
Volume 2021
-
Volume 2020
-
Volume 2019
-
Volume 2018
-
Volume 2017
-
Volume 2016
-
Volume 2015
-
Volume 2014
-
Volume 2013
-
Volume 2012
-
Volume 2011
-
Volume 2010
-
Volume 2009
-
Volume 2008
-
Volume 2007
-
Volume 2006
-
Volume 2005
-
Volume 2004
-
Volume 2003
-
Volume 2002
-
Volume 2001
-
Volume 2000
-
Volume 1999
-
Volume 1998
-
Volume 1997
-
Volume 1996
-
Volume 1995
-
Volume 1994
-
Volume 1993
-
Volume 1992
-
Volume 1991
-
Volume 1990
-
Volume 1989
-
Volume 1988
-
Volume 1987
-
Volume 1986
-
Volume 1985
-
Volume 1984
-
Volume 1983
-
Volume 1982
-
Volume 1981
-
Volume 1980
-
Volume 1979
-
Volume 1978
-
Volume 1977
-
Volume 1976