The future of structural reforms in Latin America is under discussion. The purpose of this document is to synthesize the facts and opinions that underlie this debate. The first section shows that although the reform process has not ground to a halt, it has been incomplete and uneven, both across...

This paper compares growth conditions in China and Latin America to assess fears that China will displace Latin America in the coming decades. China`s strengths include the size of the economy, macroeconomic stability, abundant low-cost labor, the rapid expansion of physical infrastructure, and...

Since the mid-1980s a profound change of direction in the structural policies of the region has taken place. The development model based on protecting national markets and state intervention was replaced by a set of policies aimed primarily at seeking to improve efficiency, facilitate the...

Este artículo compara las condiciones de crecimiento económico de China y de América Latina con el fin de evaluar los temores de que la economía china desplace a la latinoamericana en las próximas décadas. Las fortalezas de China se basan en el tamaño de su economía, su estabilidad...

Este documento es una actualización del trabajo original, y tiene como objeto describir y medir el avance de las reformas estructurales, utilizando para ello un índice de políticas estructurales que resume el estado de progreso de las políticas en las áreas comercial, financiera,...

This paper assesses how electoral outcomes in both presidential and legislative elections in Latin America have been affected by the adoption of economic policies that seek to improve macroeconomic stability and facilitate the functioning of markets. The database includes 17 Latin American...

The main contribution of this paper with respect to previous work is the use of data on subjective perceptions to identify the Latin American middle classes. This paper provides a set of comparisons between objective and subjective definitions of middle-class using data from the 2007 World...

This study evaluates the major changes in the main sectors of structural economy policy in Latin America between 1985 and 2009, and proposes a set of indices intended to measure the extent to which commercial, financial, tax, privatization and labor policies are favorable for the free operation...

This paper proposes a methodology to resolve the problems that result from using a combination of objective and subjective information in evaluating urban quality of life. The paper further suggests techniques to identify and rank issues of potential importance for urban dwellers. In order to...

This paper empirically explores the effects of payroll taxes, value-added taxes and corporate income taxes on a variety of labor market outcomes such as employment, unemployment, informality, and wages. Using national-level data on labor variables for 15 Latin American countries, the results...