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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2013‒11‒02
seven papers chosen by |
| By: | María Victoria Flores Trujillo (Departamento de Ciencias Económicas y Administrativas - Universidad Simon Bolivar) |
| Abstract: | La descentralización es un proceso político, económico y social que tiene por objetivo la democratización de poder, trasladando no solo la administración de recursos sino la toma de decisiones; la capacidad económica de resolver los problemas locales de zonas alejadas del eje central, con el objetivo político de responsabilizar a cada Estado del desarrollo local, a partir de la gestión pública descentralizada. La contextualización se construye a partir de la revisión documental bibliográfica, se toma una muestra representativa del 30% de la población de puertos de Latinoamérica, conformado por los puertos siguientes: El Callao en el Perú, Puerto Cabello en Venezuela, Valparaíso en Chile, Buenos Aires en Argentina, Balboa en Panamá y Manzanillo en México respectivamente; elegidos por manejar el mayor volumen de carga comercial de cada país. El estudio se justifica por la necesidad de revisar continuamente el comportamiento del mercado, aspira a contribuir a las ciencias sociales, al actualizar, compilar y explicar este comportamiento, con el fin de corregir posibles fallos en la operación del mercado, formular supuestos más ajustados con la realidad y finalmente, servir de punto de partida o referencia a estudios posteriores. |
| Keywords: | Latin America; El Callao, Peru; Puerto Cabello, Venezuela; Valparaiso, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Balboa, Panama; Manzanillo, Mexico; Ports; Port Policies; Decentralization; Maritime trade; Foreign trade |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00875397&r=lam |
| By: | Norma Lanciotti; Alexandre Macchione Saes |
| Abstract: | The article analyzes the evolution, strategies and position of American & Foreign Power subsidiaries in Argentina and Brazil from their entry in the mid-1920s to their nationalisation. We compare the economic performance and entry strategies followed by the American holding in different host economies. We also examine the relations between the American electricity firms and the Governments of both countries, focusing on the debates and policies that explain American & Foreign Power's withdrawal from Argentina and Brazil in 1959-1965. Finally, the article reviews the role of foreign direct investment in the development of electric power sector in both countries. The study is based upon the Annual Reports and Proceedings of American & Foreign Power (1923-1963) and other corporate reports, Government statistics and official Reports from Argentina, Brazil and the United States. |
| Keywords: | Electricity companies; Holding companies; US foreign direct investment; Argentina; Brazil; Regulatory strategies; State-owned enterprises |
| JEL: | N86 N76 |
| Date: | 2013–10–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2013wpecon14&r=lam |
| By: | María José Paz Antolín (Departamento de Economía Aplicada I - Universidad Complutense de Madrid); David Silva Gutiérrez (Departamento de Economía Aplicada I - Universidad Complutense de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | La implementación de "nuevas" estrategias económicas en América Latina se ve fuertemente condicionada por la herencia neoliberal generando una dialéctica caracterizada por elementos de cambio y de continuidad. Partiendo de este supuesto, nuestro trabajo se centra en analizar el impacto de esta herencia en un eje considerado crucial en estas nuevas estrategias, la industrialización a partir de los recursos naturales. Tras caracterizar estas estrategias industrializadoras en el sector de hidrocarburos y tomando como referencia tres países de la región (Bolivia, Brasil y Ecuador) se identifican los principales elementos de continuidad con las políticas de ajuste neoliberal que, según concluimos, están limitando el grado de avance del proceso industrializador. |
| Keywords: | Latin America; Bolivia; Brazil; Ecuador; Natural Resources; Oil; Gas; Production; Economic Policy; Industrialization |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00875197&r=lam |
| By: | Fernando Lopez-Alves |
| Abstract: | The literature has long argued that the nation is a community, either “imagined”, ”invented”, or of “sentiment”. The existence of such a “national community” has strongly relied upon the assumption that members share –or feel/believe that they share-- something/s in common. It stands to reason that members of the national community, therefore, should have some degree of consciousness as to what unites them as a nation. Theoretically, they ought to somewhat concur in identifying the features that characterize their nations and differentiates them from others. Very seldom, however, has literature asked members of the nation what the nation means to them. In this paper I do and thereby I question well-known arguments in current literature on the nation., I seek to establish to what degree, if at all, the nation exists as a construct in the popular imaginary. I attempt to identify the concepts and images that members of the nation associate with their national identity. |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cem:doctra:525&r=lam |
| By: | Ebru A. Gencer (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Central America and the Caribbean is one of the most hazard-prone regions in the world. In addition, the region is heavily affected by poverty, unemployment, critical management of natural resources, and urban conglomeration in capital cities, especially in the Small Island Developing States, increasing vulnerability and risk to natural disasters and climate change. This paper examines characteristics of urban vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change in the Central America and the Caribbean Region. It argues that even though the region is not vast in size, the diversity within creates different characteristics of vulnerability to natural disasters and thus requires an extensive variety of disaster risk reduction approaches and adaptation techniques. |
| Keywords: | Urban Vulnerability, Disaster Risk, Central America, the Caribbean |
| JEL: | Q5 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.78&r=lam |
| By: | Ricardo Carneiro; Pedro Rossi |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses four main questions: firstly, it discusses some theoretical background related to the interest-exchange rate nexus; secondly, it makes an attempt to explain why the interest rate in Brazil is so high, examining briefly the main explanations for it; thirdly, it describes Brazil’s foreign exchange markets, their size and hierarchy; and lastly, it explains the carry trade dynamics considering the institutionalism of the Brazilian foreign exchange market and also the government policies envisioned to curb it. |
| Keywords: | working paper, daadpartnership, finance-and-trade |
| JEL: | E44 E52 F4 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtf:wpaper:1302&r=lam |
| By: | Ferreira Lima, Luis Cristovao |
| Abstract: | Using the censuses of 2000 and 2010, we have noticed that the inequality of the household per capita income in the biggest Brazilian cities did not show a trend of reduction, differently from the whole country. Also, the inequality in those cities is substantially higher than the Brazilian. We investigate the determinants of this high and persistent inequality for Brasília (Federal District). We use the static decomposition of the generalized entropy indexes and the decomposition by regression with the method of Fields and the Shapley value. We verified that the public sector was the main factor to explain why the inequality was kept high in the capital of Brazil. All the methods reached the same conclusion. While the shrinking differences on the education attainment of the population had an effect of reducing the inequality, the policy of paying better salaries to the public servants had the opposite effect, which preserved the high inequality. This policy induces the migration to Brasília and it has a long run impact on the retirements and pensions benefits, which perpetuates the disparities. |
| Keywords: | Brasília (Federal District); Public Sector; Inequality Decomposition; Generalized Entropy Indexes; Fields method; Shapley value. |
| JEL: | C21 C71 D31 I24 J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:50938&r=lam |