The middle-income trap was initially interpreted as an inevitable slowdown in economic growth as countries approach the technological frontier. Yet growth in Latin America (LA) stalled at low levels of labour productivity — about half of the levels of the technological leaders. Productivity...

This paper reassesses national income inequalities in this era of globalization. The main conclusion is that two opposite forces are at work: one ‘centrifugal’ at the two extremes of the distribution—increasing the disparity of income shares appropriated by the top and by the bottom four...

In Mexico, a remarkably dynamic expansion of exports has been associated with a surprisingly poor overall growth performance. Moreover, this collapse of the export multiplier took place in a context of both massive inflows of foreign direct investment and unrestricted "market access" to the...

Beyond Reforms presents the contributions of some United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) analysts as well as research articles prepared for the Commission. It reviews long-term growth and development patterns and focuses on macroeconomic vulnerability and...

</titre> <alinea/> This paper investigates the growth implications of the old controversy of whether there is a difference for developing countries between exporting potato-chips and micro-chips. It concludes that the experience of Latin America and East Asia since 1980 (i.e., during the period of...