This report reviews of a set of international programs promoting Cleaner Production (CP) to aid MIF and similar donor agencies in structuring cluster programs with SMEs in Latin America aimed at promoting resource efficiency while improving economic and environmental performance.

This Discussion Paper is intended to serve several purposes: This Discussion Paper is intended to serve several purposes: 1. Provide basic information on health, safety and environmental (HSE) issues in the apparel industry, including generally recognized best practices. 2. Discuss the capacity...

This paper examines local efforts to facilitate interactive learning and knowledge sharing among small and medium-sized apparel manufacturers in Guadalajara, Mexico. It focuses on a government-sponsored training program that gets design-oriented and technologically-advanced producers (most of...

The informal economy plays an important, yet often overlooked, role in economies throughout the world. Informal activities can provide a much needed source of income for a great number of people. At the same time, informality motivated by regulatory distortions, tax evasion, or in the pursuit of...

To date, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has considered the impact of its projects on community health and safety on an ad hoc basis. Although the IDB's 2006 Environmental and Safeguards Compliance Policy (OP-703) requires that project teams consider health and safety issues in the...

This presentation aims at analyzing the impact of institutional and systemic effects of clustering and its consequences on upgrading and differentiation and division of labor in the electronics industry in Malaysia. The methodological approach consists of case studies. Two centers within the...

This presentation discusses a series of measures and actions to help explain the impact of governance on the behavior of global value chains. The topics include: 1) Supplier-led industrial upgrading strategies; 2) New constraints by global suppliers in industries that have already globalized; and...

This presentation addresses the Inter-American Development Bank's approach to cluster projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, and presents lessons learned and challenges.

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...