Promoting Economic Development In Central America

In this major work an economist with long experience as an advisor in developing countries explores the conflict between market forces and political reform that has led straight into Latin America's most serious problems. John Sheahan addresses three central concerns: the persistence of poverty in Latin American countries despite rising national incomes, the connection between economic troubles and political repression, and the relationships between Latin America and the rest of the world in trade and finance, as well as overall dependence. His comprehensive explanation of why many Latin Americans identify open political systems with frustration and economic breakdown will interest not only economists but also a broad range of other social scientists. This is "political economy" in the classical sense of the word, establishing a clear connection between the political and economic realities of Latin America.

Faster economic growth and expansion of exports in Central America in the 21st century will depend on many factors. These include efficient and modern standards systems and an end to technical barriers to trade. Regional efforts can be an efficient way to modernize standards systems.

With its unique mix of theory, historical discussion, case studies, and contemporary analysis, this book provides a complete and detailed comprehension of the business environment in Central America, with a focus specifically on Guatemala. Identifying the key drivers of Central America economic growth and development, it outlines what must be done to take advantage of the opportunities as Guatemala moves into the future. This book will serve as a valuable resource for IB scholars and students seeking to learn more about the changing focus and interests of Central America, and the implications and opportunities this poses for global business interests.

This paper studies the potential for the export sector to play a more important role in promoting growth in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic (CAPDR) through deeper intra-regional and global trade integration. CAPDR countries have enacted many free trade agreements and other regional integration initiatives in recent years, but this paper finds that their exports remain below the norm for countries of their size. Several indexes of outward orientation are constructed and suggest that the breadth of geographic trading relationships, depth of integration into global production chains, and degree of technological sophistication of exports in CAPDR are less conducive to higher exports and growth than in fast-growing, export-oriented economies. To boost exports and growth, CAPDR should implement policies to facilitate economic integration, particularly building a customs union, harmonizing trade rules, improving logistics and infrastructure, and enhancing regional cordination.

Investment in Latin America is continuously developing in complex patterns due to the region’s increasing role in the global economy. The Handbook of Research on Economic Growth and Technological Change in Latin America helps readers to better understand the importance of Latin America in today’s global economy. The book discusses the developments of investments involving Latin American Multinational Corporations (“Multilatinas”) within the region. This investment is having profound influences on the state of business, government, and technological development in Latin America, which are all explored in this reference publication for use by researchers, scholar-practitioners, business executives, students, and academicians.

The countries of Latin America are plagued by poverty, high rates of population growth and unemployment, low growth in their gross national product, low rates of industrialization, high dependencee on agriculture, and uneven income distribution. Low income and growth reflect structural weaknesses which will prevent more rapid economic development if major changes are not made. The real problem for policy makers is how to combine overall economic growth with a more equitable distribution of income and assistance. This volume examines current issues and trends, methods, strategies, and policies for modernization in Latin America.