The country studies and their background papers included in this book were prepared for the Latin America and the Caribbean section of the "Global Research Project: Explaining Growth" of the Global Development Network (GDN), a research effort conducted in association with the Latin American and...

This paper studies three horizontal policy instruments and two vertical ones in Chilean industrial policy, particularly regarding small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The horizontal instruments are (1) a guarantee program for borrowing by SMEs (FOGAPE), (2) a small subsidy to new exports that...

The IDB's Integration & Trade Journal includes articles on the different aspects of integration in Latin America and the Caribbean, on hemispheric integration and, furthermore, on similar processes in other parts of the world. The aim is to address the topics included herein from a remarkably...

Export Pioneers in Latin America analyzes a series of case studies of successful new export activities throughout the region to learn how pioneers jump-start a virtuous process leading to economic transformation. The cases of blueberries in Argentina, avocados in Mexico, and aircraft in Brazil...

This paper deals with a topic that has been amply debated in the development literature: the relationship between trade and growth. The paper's hypothesis is that what matters for growth is not merely openness to trade, or, for that matter, export growth per se. The key feature of countries that...

This paper examines the growth experiences of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (Southern Cone countries). The analysis sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of long-run growth of these countries by identifying similarities and differences with other countries and assesses...

In order to analyze how satisfactory the growth process in Latin America has been over the past 40 years it is important to make relevant comparisons with other experiences. To tackle this issue, the authors focus on the per capita economic growth rate and its contributing factors, comparing the...

This study covers the impact of the emergence of China on Central American economies, with special emphasis on Guatemala and Honduras. The issue of the China¿s impact is generally approached from the standpoint of threats hovering over the economies of Central America (and of others in Region...

Why are growth rates in Latin America so disappointing? This book reviews the results of an ambitious research project to determine the binding constraints to growth, that is, the barrier whose removal would yield the greatest benefit in terms of growth. Included are case studies from seven...