Latin American Industrial Competitiveness And The Challenge Of Globalization

Manufacturing in Latin America and the Caribbean region (LAC) faces severe competitive stresses as it integrates into the global economy. It is not, on the whole, coping well. Though it was the first region in the developing world - in the post-war era - to liberalize on international trade and investment flows and had the most advanced industrial base, it failed to tap fully the opportunities offered. As a result, it has steadily fallen behind the most competitive economies in the developing world, the Tigers of East Asia. What is behind LAC's under-performance? The dominant view in the region puts emphasis on the legacy of import substitution, macroeconomic mismanagement and on a costly business environment. Although important, these factors do not seem to tell the whole story. The heavy emphasis on government failures has led policymakers to overlook key market failures that stand on the way to sustained productivity growth, increasing technological capability and greater competitiveness. This paper can be seen as a first step to redress the balance of the policy debate and focus on benchmarking competitive performance and capabilities in the 1990s in LAC and East Asia, letting the comparisons speak for themselves. While it is known in the region that its recent industrial record has been poor, the dimensions are not well analyzed or understood. This benchmarking exercise, using a simple framework to measure performance and capabilities, should prove instructive to policy analysis.

Can Latin America compete? Many argue that the macroeconomic and trade reforms of the 1990s merely put a handsome coat of paint over education, labour, judicial, and administrative reforms that remain incomplete. This book identifies ten factors that most influence the competitiveness of Latin American nations and will shape their economic futures.

Success in today's globalized business environment requires deep knowledge of varied areas, and the willingness to engage in commerce not just across geographic areas, but cross-culturally and environmentally as well. Doing Business in Latin America offers an in-depth look at a complex region, integrating practitioners’ and scholars’ ideas to examine business conducted in Latin America through the lens of international business and globalization. The book introduces, discusses, and explains in detail the historical, economic, cultural, political, and technological impacts of globalization and business conduct in Latin American countries. It also considers the contemporary business environment of the area, looking at how current country and regional factors have affected the process of starting and operating businesses. Finally, it looks forward to the emerging trends that portend the future of business in these countries. With its combination of contemporary analysis and historical discussion, this book is a vital tool to all scholars and practitioners with an interest in the opportunities offered by the current Latin American business environment.

In today's world economy, a nation's standard of living is increasingly influenced by the competitiveness of its industries and firms. This is especially true in Latin America, where economic reforms have created new opportunities and challenges. Based on a comprehensive two-year study, Venezuela: The Challenge of Competitiveness represents a first-of-its-kind analysis of the competitiveness of the economy and industries of a developing nation. The authors also provide valuable recommendations on actions that firms and government can take to improve the nation's overall economic performance. The study's methods, conclusions, and recommendations will be of direct interest for those interested in industrial competitiveness, economic reform, and Latin America.

`This excellent textbook provides students of Latin America with a rich and deep analysis of the processes and outcomes of globalization, past and present. Diversity and difference are explored using vivid and detailed country profiles. A strength of this textbook is its ability to explain complex issues in a way that is engaging and informative. It provides conceptual frameworks for students to engage in independent analysis of the complexities of global forces as they impact on, and interact with, the "local" in different contexts. It also, however, engages with the issues of crucial importance for the lived realities of Latin American people- poverty, development, the state and resistance under changing political, economic and ideological conditions. An essential buy for serious students of Latin America' - Anne Boran, Chester College, University of Liverpool `This is an outstanding textbook which will appeal to a wide audience but especially those wishing to understand contemporary Latin America.... I have been studying Latin America for over 40 years and wish I could have written such a lucid and engaging book' - Dr Crist[ac]obal Kay, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague Introduction to Latin America provides a completely new introduction to the political, social and economic forces shaping this essential region of undergraduate study today. It is the first textbook to place Latin America within a genuinely global context and introduce the debates and impact of globalization, neoliberalism, democratization, and the environment. It fully reviews the traditional literature in the postwar period (such as modernization or dependency theory) to demonstrate the way in which Latin America has often been misunderstood and introduces more recent theorizing to consider the longer-term prospects for equitable and sustainable development. Encorporating maps, case study boxes, summary exhibits, and guides to further reading, Introduction to Latin America will be an essential text for all students of Latin America across politics, international studies, geography, sociology and development studies.

The economic successes of China and India are viewed with admiration but also with concern because of the effects that the growth of these Asian economies may have on the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. The evidence in 'China's and India's Challenge to Latin America' indicates that certain manufacturing and service industries in some countries have been negatively affected by Chinese and Indian competition in third markets and that LAC imports from China and India have been associated with modest unemployment and adjustment costs in manufacturing industries. The book also provides substantial evidence of positive aggregate effects for LAC economies associated with China's and India's greater presence in world exports, financial flows, and innovation. Chinese and Indian growth is creating new production possibilities for LAC economies, particularly in sectors that rely on natural resources and scientific knowledge.

The greatest challenge facing countries in Latin America is to improve their positions in intensely competitive world markets. International competitiveness is a crucial factor for economic and social recovery and for improving the standard of living. The chances of success depend critically on the relationship between government and the private sector. This book questions whether the mix of policies currently pursued in the selected countries will suffice to bring about the required structural transformation. What is needed is not just less government but better government that is capable of correcting markets in an effective and efficient way and that creates a stimulating environment for domestic industry. This book analyses the contributions governments in small and medium-sized countries in the region can make to the strengthening of the international competitiveness and export-orientation of the manufacturing sectors. Theoretical, cross-country and country-specific studies in this volume analyse the progress made recently to correct policy failures of the past, the obstacles and bottlenecks that have occurred in the process of economic transition and the challenges ahead for the selected countries.