Economic Commission For Latin America Research Articles

The Care Economy al América Latina: A Multi-scalar Feminist Project

Abstract Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) created an opening to put the care economy on the global agenda, but the idea found particularly fertile ground in Latin America and the Caribbean well before COVID. This article examines the way the idea and practice of a care economy has been developed by feminists in the region. It looks at the role played by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the triennial Regional Conferences on Women in putting it on the regional agenda. Turning to the Uruguayan example, it looks at how feminists were able successfully to push for a national care system, using the idea of the care economy as a coalition magnet. When facing blockages at the national scale elsewhere, however, Latin American feminists have adopted a multi-scalar strategy, finding openings especially at the local scale, as the examples of Bogotá and Mexico City suggest.

Integrating Latin America into the Global Economy: Strategies for Regional Economic Development

The 1990s marked a transformative era for Latin American economies, characterized by significant political and institutional reforms aimed at increasing trade and financial openness. The economic development model adopted during this period emphasized market-led growth through liberalization measures, significantly reducing the state's role in the economy. However, by the decade's end, the anticipated economic and social benefits had not materialized in many countries, prompting a reevaluation of development policies. This paper revisits the theoretical frameworks proposed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), grounded in Keynesian economics and a historical-structural methodology. ECLAC's analysis focused on the implications of deregulation and the liberalization of economic and financial policies, advocating for a regional development strategy that balances economic growth with equitable income distribution, employment opportunities, technological advancement, and social fairness. By analyzing Latin America's integration into the global economy in the 1990s, this study explores ECLAC's theoretical perspectives as viable alternatives to the reforms implemented during that period. Employing a bibliographic and reflective analytical approach, the paper underscores ECLAC's contributions to understanding the socioeconomic challenges and opportunities facing the region.

Latin American Neostructuralism and Its Differentiation from Latin American Structuralism

Latin American neostructuralism emerged within the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean by 1990. As such, it was aimed at reviewing original Latin American structuralism and updating those contributions to the new phase of global capitalism. Notwithstanding this institutional point of view, this article argues that neostructuralism did not represent an update to Latin American structuralism but rather a differentiation from its critical and original contributions, which relies mainly on the displacement of the center-periphery concept. In the framework of the neoliberal offensive, this change toward capitalism was the result of the greater influence of theories and approaches generated in the center to problematize Latin America’s development, as well as of the requirement to depoliticize the discussion of development. JEL Classification: B2, B5, O1

Margarita Fajardo, The World That Latin America Created. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era

Margarita Fajardo, The World That Latin America Created. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era

European Union transregional cooperation with Latin America: perspectives, opportunities, constraints

The article focuses on modern development of the transregional cooperation between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The study is based on official documents, on the European think tanks’ studies, as well as the conceptual vision of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The research provides the main directions of short-term and medium-term transregional interaction between the EU and LAC. The authors consider the energy transition as one of the promising areas of transatlantic cooperation for the near future which can stimulate economic growth and production transformations in the LAC region. The article addresses the issue of building the strategic autonomy of the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors describe three scenarios of LAC’s development in terms of transregional cooperation with the EU. It is concluded that the European Union in the context of a changing world order is trying to make Latin America and the Caribbean economically and technologically dependent through the implementation of investment programs as part of the green agenda on the way to an accelerated global energy transition.

Margarita Fajardo, The World That Latin America Created. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era

Margarita Fajardo, The World That Latin America Created. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2022, 297pp.

The World That Latin America Created: The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era

The World That Latin America Created: The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era

CEPAL, the “International Monetary Fund of the Left”?

Abstract The article examines the entangled histories of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL) during the post–World War II era. Born of the same global moment, within two decades of their foundation, these institutions had come to represent two opposing visions of world economic order. Yet their mutual antagonism was not a foregone conclusion, and their identities were not so defined from the start. The binary division between them—as well as the very terms of their debate—emerged not in the realm of abstract ideas but rather in their competition over influence in Latin America. Unlike the history of the UN, the story of the IMF continues to be told as one of projection—of power, ideas, and practices—and reception, of dominance by the North and resistance of the South. By looking at CEPAL and the IMF in tandem, as they converged, diverged, and shaped each other, this article shows the impact of a southern institution and Latin America on the northern institution and the structure of global governance. It contributes to our understanding of global institutional history and economic governance, precisely at a moment when global institutions have lost prestige and leverage.

El papel de la cooperación alemana en las alianzas público-privadas para el desarrollo sostenible en América Latina

Dentro del marco de la cooperación Sur-Sur, Alemania participa hoy en nuevas modalidades de cooperación al desarrollo, como son la cooperación triangular o las alianzas público-privadas (APP), que se han convertido en instrumentos vitales para el desarrollo de infraestructuras en la región, que no serían viables sin el apoyo del sector privado. La Agencia Alemana de Cooperación (GIZ), la Organización Latinoamericana de Energía (Olade) y la Comisión Económica para América Latina (Cepal) trabajan en un ambicioso programa (Proyecto Energía y Desarrollo Sustentable en América Latina), que utilizaremos como base en el presente artículo con el objetivo de evaluar el papel de la APP, la importancia de la cooperación alemana como actor principal en la promoción de proyectos energéticos sostenibles y el impacto de estos en la integración del continente latinoamericano.

International Legal Mechanisms for the Protection and Promotion of Women’s Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean

At both universal and regional levels, women are identified as a vulnerable category of individuals, as they are at the increased risk of becoming victims of human rights violations. Historical experience points to practices and traditions that have purposely limited women’s rights, resulting in entrenched stereotypes against women. The most acute form of violation of women’s rights is gender-based violence. In 2021, at least 4,473 women in Latin America and the Caribbean were victims of feminicide, 1 an extreme and deadly form of gender-based violence. The purpose of this article is to analyze the Inter-American international legal mechanisms for the protection and promotion of women’s rights. Both universal international legal instruments and regional Inter-American agreements provide mechanisms that enable individuals, whose rights were violated as a result of discrimination or violence, to submit individual communications. In addition, both universal mechanisms and regional Inter-American mechanisms promote the gender agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the implementation of international law in national legislation. The in-depth analysis of Inter-American mechanisms for the protection and promotion of women’s rights reveals both the system’s unique features and its shortcomings. In particular, the two-level system of individual communications submission means that not all cases, which deal with the protection of women’s rights against violence, reach the Inter- American Court of Human Rights. Moreover, the insignificant number of cases of women’s rights violations heard before the Court points to the weak law enforcement practice within the existing Inter-American mechanisms. In addition to the Inter-American regulation within the framework of the OAS, this article examines the activities of integration sub-regional unions, such as Mercosur and the Andean Community. In particular, these integration unions, as well as ECLAC — the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, contribute to gender equality and the empowerment of women within the region.

Income poverty and sectoral income differentials in Chilean agricultural (1935–1968)

The main aim of this study is to analyse sectoral income differentials and income poverty in Chilean agricultural between 1935 and 1968. The food share method of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is used as a methodological approach. The conclusions are as follows: (1) contrary to what the existing literature suggests, the Chilean agricultural sector was not entirely an agrarian subsistence economy; (2) the cost of agricultural labour began to increase in the mid-1930s, but less than in the industrial and manufacturing sectors in urban areas; (3) maintaining tenants above the poverty line in rural areas from 1935 to 1955 was as expensive as paying the average wage of blue-collar workers; and (4) if days worked per year and household size are considered, agricultural wages rose but remained below the poverty line for rural areas.

The challenges of taxation in the digital economy: analysis of the Ecuadorian tax system

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the current state of taxation of the digital economy and project its contribution to the tax system in Ecuador. A methodology of qualitative approach and exploratory scope was used, through a comparative matrix of Latin American countries, their BEPS regulations and an analysis of the effectiveness of the actions taken on taxes on the digital economy. Statistical data was taken from Tax Administrations, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations and the KPMG Tax News Digital Economy Report. For the projection of fiscal income, the Financial Statements of multinational companies that do not have headquarters in Ecuador were considered and through simple regression the future collection was estimated. The results showed that the projection of digital taxes in Ecuador would be 200.27 million dollars for the period 2022-2025, with 80% corresponding to VAT. In addition, it was revealed that there is a derivative collection not considered as a product of the information provided by digital companies, causing additional potential collection. In the diagnosis of advances in international tax matters in the Region, it is concluded that tax regulations in Latin America respond to the tax challenges of the digital economy on a global scale.

Systemic vision of the technological educational context in Latin America

The research aimed to diagnose the reality of Latin America in the technological educational context, from the perspectives of different international organizations. A documentary and interpretive study was designed using discursive hermeneutics to detect the similarities and differences found in the pronouncements made by these organizations; about the use and appropriation of pedagogical solutions based on digital technologies that are fundamental in the countries of this region to guarantee a comprehensive education in accordance with these globalized and post-pandemic times. The international entities selected for analysis, and which served as a reference sample for this diagnosis, were: the World Bank (WB); the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The diagnosis was oriented towards the perception that these organizations have of the current reality and the solutions offered to solve the obstacles in the face of these realities. The results show discursive disparities regarding the existing technological-educational situation, as well as coincidences related to the aspects proposed to remedy these obstacles. It was concluded that the support received by these organizations around technology-based education in Latin American countries, should not be biased by the interests of the global economy that limit the autonomy of these people.

The world that Latin America created: the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the development era

The world that Latin America created: the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the development era

From Okhotny ryad to East River: life and destiny of the revolutionary Jose Antonio Mayobre

The article, written on the basis of previously unpublished archival documents, memoirs, compared with scientific literature, examines the biography of the outstanding Venezuelan economist and politician Jose Antonio Mayobre. His life was filled with bright events: participation in the activities of the Communist Party of Venezuela, the work in such so international organizations like the Comintern, the International Monetary Fund, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America, the UN, in the Government of Venezuela and as a diplomat. The authors compare the turns in Mayobre’s life with the stages of world and Venezuelan history.

Transferência de dinheiro na pandemia de Covid-19 na América Latina e no Caribe

Abstract: This article presents partial results of an investigation under development by researchers at Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan Universities. The cash transfer programs are seen as social measures to mitigate poverty, as well as to decrease the rise of unemployment, informal work and waste of income. The research methodology were bibliographic and documental studies; secondary data; access to websites and data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The discuss focus on conceptions, modalities and the debate on Focalized Cash Transfer Programs and Universal Basic Income as reference to discuss the reality of cash transfer programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. The outcomes pointed out the enlargement of the focalized cash transfer programs; creation of emergence programs to meet the economic and social consequences generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was not identified the implementation of the Universal and Unconditional Basic Income.

Artificial intelligence technologies and the rise of cyber threats in Latin America

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have been a real revolution and breakthrough in the world of virtual communication for modern society. Latin American countries are just beginning to adopt this type of technology to achieve the smart government paradigm and accelerate the pace of building a digital economy. A number of countries in the Latin American region are investing in strategies to develop AI technologies, focusing on improving economic development, with significant efforts to create a broader cooperation network at the regional level. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) also has been striving for several years to harness the huge potential of AI, including the digital transformation of the public sector. The global concept of cybersecurity becomes particularly relevant due to the increasing use of cyberspace as a virtual environment for political, economic, social and cultural interaction. To date, cybersecurity has become an important issue for national strategies of Latin American countries due to the increasing incidence of malicious use of AI in the political and economic life of the region. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate main dimensions of national strategies for the implementation of AI in the public sector in Latin America and to identify the main cyber tools aimed at undermining national security and putting political actors out of work.

Investments of countries in renewable energy sources in Latin America and the Caribbean: State and prospects

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has identified the energy transition period as one of the strategic areas of action to accelerate the recovery of the region. Renewable energy can become a comparative advantage in terms of attracting investments in other sectors of energy-intensive industries, for example, those related to green hydrogen and the development of carbon-neutral technologies. The dynamic international market and the countries of the Latin American region have the opportunity to solve the tasks strategically with the help of investments. The goal is to conduct a quantitative analysis and directions of FDI to Latin America and the Caribbean based on statistical data. Investment cooperation is analysed within the framework of the theory of structural functionalism (Parsons) using macroeconomic indicators of foreign trade cooperation based on UNCTAD statistics on world investment, data from the central banks of Bolivia, Brazil, CEPAL statistical agencies and the Bank of Russia.

Containers in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) “throughput”

Although there is progress regarding the total movement of containers in movement of full and empty units, there is a need for a breakdown at the port level or at the country level and the lack of knowledge regarding what is measured in “TEU”, a unit equivalent to twenty feet. The purpose of this study was to analyze the throughput trend of container ports in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the information was taken from a secondary source with the participation of 43 countries. They completed the instrument of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (hereinafter referred to by its acronym, ECLAC), which includes the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES). The analysis of the behavior of trade (sum of exports and imports via full containers) in the period focuses on LAC and analyzing exports and imports, transshipment and throughput by coast, there are two divisions or main branches of the decision tree can be seen in which 35 observations can be seen in the first set of data and 28 for the second, additionally, the data is recorded in a Split Point contained between 0.194 and -0.513, inputs and equipment for productions are also imported. In conclusion, the model does not respond with respect to the classification in which precision and completeness present low or null values in the decision tree where the highest values locate the Brazil node; On the other hand, the smaller values point to the Aruba node, finally, the larger values are for Anguilla.

Latin America and the European Union: Conceptual Approaches and Practice of Economic Cooperation

The article deals with North - South cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with an emphasis on bilateral trade. Over the past decades, cooperation with the EU has been perceived in LAC as a counterweight to the US dominance and one of the priorities of external economic relations. The article presents a retrospective of theoretical approaches of the non-Western Latin American school of UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, CEPAL in Spanish) to the economic cooperation with the EU. A feature of the article is the study of trade interaction between the LCA and the EU countries. When analyzing the dynamics of trade during the first two decades of the 21st century the author of the article comes to the conclusion that the trade exchange between the EU and the LCA is uneven. There are many LAC countries that continue to export low-value-added products to the EU. Thus, the dichotomy between two models of commercial specialization of LAC has exacerbated. On one hand, there is a model of South American countries focused on raw materials (MERCOSUR, Andean Community), and, on the other hand, there is a model that includes the export of manufactured products and participation in industrial production chains (Mexico, Central America). The article concludes that MERCOSUR will probably face a number of trade challenges related to its model of economic globalization, particularly with regard to its export specialization in commodities and food. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that in the context of exacerbation of geopolitical contradictions and a changing world order, it is important to analyze the Latin American approach to economic cooperation with the EU countries, among which, in turn, there is a growing understanding that still free niches in the Latin American market can be occupied by China or other partners not belonging to the collective West.