Competing in the world economy does not automatically boost a nation's productivity and restructure its economy. Such progress requires mobilizing capital, employment, technology and knowledge. Opportunities beyond the business realm must be fully exploited to the benfit of society as a whole....

Regional integration initiatives have long been part of the world economic landscape. In Latin America, integration flourished in the early post-war era but then lost momentum until the 1990s, when there was a new wave of initiatives ranging from free trade areas to customs unions. This Report...

The authors of this volume analyze the policies that led to East Asia's economic success, including those affecting human resources, savings, the financial sector, trade and institutions, and examine the lessons these policies carry for Latin America. The genesis of this book was an...

This book presents a set of studies on contemporary discrimination in Latin America that takes advantage of these new tools by focusing on social interactions that range from cooperation, group formation, and the impact of migration in poor families to specific markets such as housing and labor....

Have the economies of Latin America become less volatile as a result of the economic stabilization and structural reforms implemented during the past decade? The answer is a qualified yes. The reforms have helped, but more needs to be done to ensure the macroeconomic stability required for...

What are the reasons for the costs of Latin America's volatility? Because there is no consensus on these fundamental questions, there is no consensus on the appropriate policy response to macroeconomic volatility in Latin America, and other shock-prone countries. This paper provides new evidence...

This paper presents theory and evidence on the relationship between inequality and institutional quality. We propose a model in which the two dynamically reinforce each other and set out to test this relationship with a broad array of institutional measures. We establish double causality between...

This paper reviews and contributes to the policy debate on the issue of saving in Latin America, presenting an alternative perspective on the relationship between saving and growth, saving and inflation stabilization and structural reform, and saving and capital flows.

Poorer countries have a much smaller public sector and correspondingly a smaller tax burden than richer countries, yet, their economic performance has not been necessarily better. Using a simple model, this paper suggests that the growth and welfare effects of taxation are mediated through...

The Mexican oil boom was characterized by a period of high investment, followed by capital flight. The private sector and households responded to the 1977-1981 windfall by attaining high savings rates. On the other hand, the Mexican government, the proprietor of the state oil company and the...