Latin America: stalled catching up

Latin America made considerable progress in living standards between 1870 and 2010 amid rapid modernization and structural change. However, despite these remarkable advances, the income gap between the region and the industrial leaders remains significant. This chapter assesses the long-term perform...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Astorga Junquera, Pablo, Herranz Loncán, Alfonso
Tipo de recurso: capítulo de libro
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/49081
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/49081
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781316671603.010
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Latin America
Income convergence
Human development
Economic growth
Industrialization
Income inequality
Productivity.
Descripción
Sumario:Latin America made considerable progress in living standards between 1870 and 2010 amid rapid modernization and structural change. However, despite these remarkable advances, the income gap between the region and the industrial leaders remains significant. This chapter assesses the long-term performance of Latin America relative to the developed world and discusses the key transformations in Latin America. Excess volatility, poor productivity and high inequality remain essential to explaining why the region has been unable to converge with the industrialized core through advances in human capital, R&D, and infrastructure investment. In order to improve future prospects in standards of living and catching up, the region would need to adopt a development model that delivers sustained and inclusive economic growth. Key elements of this model are a higher rate of investment, a proactive industrial policy, tighter intra-regional integration, and greater redistribution to finance a better quality of education and inclusive social services.