Publication: Latin American Growth: A Trade Perspective
Abstract
This paper reviews the determinants of
Latin America's uneven growth based on an accounting
decomposition that breaks down countries' growth
(relative to the world) into three trade-related channels:
(i) an export pull measuring the traction exerted by the
country's exports, (ii) an external leverage measuring
the impact of the country's use of external resources,
and (iii) a domestic response measuring the impact of the
country's imports on its domestic income. This
decomposition brings to light three regional growth
dynamics: the first is centered on commodities and South
America, the second on manufactures and Mexico, and the
third on services and Central America. The evidence points
toward the need for a trade-oriented growth agenda that puts
a premium on raising exports and making countries more
attractive to people, not just capital. The latter in turn
adds urgency to healing the region’s social fractures and
dealing with its institutional weaknesses.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“de la Torre, Augusto; Ize, Alain. 2019. Latin American Growth: A Trade Perspective. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8871. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31798 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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