What are the reasons for and 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...

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of current practices in the provision of business development services (BDS) to small and microentrepreneurs in developing countries. The document is meant to serve as a resource for Bank staff and other development practitioners who play a...

Access to finance remains a challenge for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Argentina. It is a particularly acute problem among newly created SMEs that have a scant credit record and frequently lack collateral. The authors of this paper carried out a pilot test of an innovative psychometric...

This paper examines the role of contracting institutions on the insertion of developing countries in international production networks and particularly on the prospects of LAC to source goods beyond the region's traditional patterns of specialization. We show that LAC's insertion in global...

This paper discusses the major factors which affect Indonesia's industrial competitiveness, specifically the determinants of its industrial technology development. The work first gives an overview of Indonesia's industrial development before and after the Asian economic crisis. Then it discusses...

As one of its goals, the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) aims to improve the management and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in different sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean. To that end, MIF supports activities that promote the creation and strengthening of...