Weitzenegger's Latin America Report

South America

Are Estimates of Poverty in Latin America Reliable?
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCOnePager52.pdf
This One Pager questions the validity of the ‘one-dollar-a-day’ and ‘two-dollars-a-day’ measurements of poverty in Latin America. Alternatively, the author argues, there are other methods that better capture the state of poverty.

Chile : a strategy to promote innovative small and medium enterprises
http://tinyurl.com/22mqxb
This review of government programs confirms the importance of coordination and an overarching strategy, in the form of a National Innovation System, led by a single institution. The review also finds that demand-driven programs were more likely to be sustainable. Finally, the study demonstrates that Chile (and other countries with many support programs for small and medium enterprises in place) needs an integrated management information system to analyze, assess, coordinate, and streamline the program portfolio for small and medium enterprises in the future.

El tamaño importa: Las políticas pro PyMEs y la competitividad, Fundación IDEA
http://tinyurl.com/3aoooa
El documento incluye nueve estudios de caso de programas de promoción y atención a PyMEs (en cuatro países y cinco estados de México) y pretende a) servir como manual de referencia para el diseño e implementación de programas de apoyo a PyMEs y b) ofrecer recomendaciónes de política pública.

License to sell:Effect of business registration reform on entrepreneurial activity in Mexico
http://tinyurl.com/2h5j5f
This paper studies the effect of business registration regulation on economic activity using micro-level data. The identification strategy exploits the fact that a recent business registration reform in Mexico was introduced in different municipalities at different points in time.

Normas privadas: el nuevo desafío para las exportaciones de los países en desarrollo,
Juliana Salles de Almeida / CEPAL
http://tinyurl.com/35lw5t
La ampliación de los mercados a escala mundial, el crecimiento del consumo y el surgimiento de consumidores cada vez más preocupados por el origen, composición y calidad de los alimentos, han hecho que en las últimas décadas aumentaran las exigencias fitosanitarias y de inocuidad para la producción agropecuaria.

OECD: Latin America’s Asian Opportunity
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/62/28/39564143.pdf
While growing trade with China and India offers new export opportunities, Latin American economies should avoid excessive concentration on a few export commodities. More investment in infrastructure and innovation is needed.

Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment in Latin America 2007
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/microfinance/rc/filedownload.do?itemId=1132367
The Scoring Model (Excel) - Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) - In this inaugural Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment in 15 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, the Economist Intelligence Unit - in association with the Inter-American Development (IDB) and Andean Development Corporation (CAF, in Spanish) charts the industry's strengths and weaknesses across the region.

Venezuelan economy is prepared to withstand the effects of decline in oil demand
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ceWH9QrPEKsUDCJRuC6doBvsawBZx3g2
The Center for Economic and Policy Research has updated its overview of the Venezuelan economy, ''The Venezuelan Economy in the Chávez Years,'' including the latest available data for growth, employment, poverty, budget information, and other data. The paper notes continued progress in economic growth, poverty reduction, employment, and health and education indicators. The paper also underscores a key point made when the original was released in July 2007: the Venezuelan economy does not fit the mold of an ''oil boom headed for a bust,'' as frequently described by observers and analysts.

Growth, Poverty and Employment in Brazil, Chile and Mexico
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCWorkingPaper42.pdf
The authors find that earnings trends were more powerful than employment trends in explaining changes in labour income. They also find that out of the total of eight country periods that they reviewed, only three exhibited a pro-poor pattern of change in labour income but two of these occurred during economic contractions.

Red de Investigadores Latinoamericanos de Economía Social y Solidaria
http://www.riless.org
RILESS es un proyecto conjunto de la Maestría en Economía Social (MAES/ICO-UNGS de Argentina), del Grupo de Investigación sobre Economía Solidaria de la Cátedra UNESCO / UNISINOS, de Río Grande do Sul (Brasil), del Colegio Mexiquense, y de FLACSO-Ecuador. Asimismo, con este proyecto colabora URBARED (ICO-UNGS/IISUNAM México). Objetivo es desarrollar una Red de Investigadores Latinoamericanos que trabaje dentro de un marco plural, contribuyendo a la elaboración de proyectos, intercambios y diversas formas de cooperación, facilitando y promoviendo trabajos multidisciplinarios, con el fin de fortalecer las iniciativas colectivas por otra economía, otra sociedad y otra política en América Latina.

South America starts Bank of the South
http://www.bicusa.org/en/Institution.21.aspx
Finance ministers from seven South American nations gathered on 9 October to found the Bank of the South (Banco del Sur) to be based in Caracas. The Bank of the South will have the mandate to apply international human rights treaties, including cultural and social rights, whereas the World Bank says that its business is not concerned by these treaties. Furthermore, the Bank of the South should, if the heads of State agree, be founded on the principle of one country, one vote. Ministers have not yet decided details regarding the new institution's funds and the organization of its members. Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela reportedly have different objectives for any new regional Bank. Venezuela and others have suggested that Banco del Sur become the IMF of South America. Such an institution would presumably play a significant role in regional monetary policy and provide some form of balance of payments finance. Have less need for protection of its reserves; Brazil is reportedly more interested in steering Banco del Sur toward servicing the infrastructure investment needs of an expanded Mercosur. Argentina is hedging its alliances with both to ensure that neither gains the upper hand in regional politics. The smaller countries are most interested in an alternative, less bureaucratic or Washington biased source of development finance.

Comercio y Pobreza en Latinoamérica (COPLA)
http://www.cop-la.net
COPLA aims to use research based evidence to strengthen and promote an improved dialogue between policymakers, researchers and those institutions that represent the poor to incorporate new issues into the policy debate. Its main objective is to use research based evidence to strengthen and promote an improved dialogue between policymakers, researchers and those institutions that represent the poor to incorporate new issues into the policy debate.

ASOCAM Portal Latinoamericano sobre Desarrollo Local
http://www.asocam.org
ASOCAM es una Plataforma Latinoamericana que facilita iniciativas y espacios de intercambio y construcción colectiva para promover la Gestión de Conocimientos sobre temas clave de desarrollo rural en la región. El Portal incluye propuestas temáticas y metodológicas sobre temas clave del desarrollo, una Biblioteca Virtual con más de mil documentos descargables y selecciones temáticas, una Base de Datos de Instituciones y Expertos, Portales Temáticos, Eventos y Foros.

Benchmarking de las Microfinanzas en Centroamérica 2006” y Tendencias 2004 - 2006
http://www.redcamif.org/transparencia/fileadmin/documentostransparencia/DoctosProdyServcs/BenchmarkingCA2006Ultimo.pdf
La Red Centroamericana de Microfinanzas (REDCAMIF) y el Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) lanzaron en conjunto el Informe Regional ''Benchmarking de las Microfinanzas en Centroamérica 2006”, que examina el desempeño financiero y operacional de las instituciones de microfinanzas de Centroamérica. El nuevo informe cubre seis países Centroamericanos (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua y Panamá) con una muestra record de 68 instituciones de microfinanzas y amplía el análisis con las Tendencias de mercado del período 2004 al 2006 y el uso de grupos pares que muestran las tendencias regionales más importantes.

Desarrollo de ventajas competitivas: pymes exportadoras exitosas en Argentina, Chile y Colombia
http://www.eclac.cl/publicaciones/xml/5/29585/LCG2339eYoguel.pdf
Este artículo de la CEPAL analiza el patrón de especialización de las Pymes exportadoras de Argentina, Chile y Colombia en el período 2001-2004, con el objetivo de identificar los factores que inciden en el grado de éxito de estas empresas. Para ello se aplica un indicador de éxito exportador al universo de Pymes exportadoras de los tres países y se diferencian dos grupos de agentes: los exitosos y los no exitosos.

EU and Central America start negotiations for new Association Agreement
http://ec.europa.eu/externalrelations/ca/index.htm
The negotiations between the EU and Central America for a comprehensive Association Agreement have started today in Brussels on the occasion of a high level meeting between the European Commission and Central America. The Association Agreement is envisaged as a comprehensive agreement, embracing the whole array of the multifaceted relations of the EU with Central America. Its objective is to enhance the political dialogue between both regions, intensify and improve their co-operation in a vast variety of areas, as well as to enhance and facilitate bi-regional economic links, including trade and investments. The Agreement will be negotiated with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. As soon as Panama takes the decision to join the economic integration process SIECA in Central America, it will be fully involved in the negotiations. The European Commission recently adopted an aid package of some €840 million for the period 2007-2013 to assist the region and its countries to address the most important challenges.

Who fears competition from informal firms ? evidence from Latin America
http://www.ruralfinance.org/servlet/BinaryDownloaderServlet/51816EmpresasAsociativas.pdf?filename=1185554797019emars20063.pdf&refID=51816
This World Bank paper investigates who is most affected by informal competition and how regulation and enforcement affect the extent and nature of this competition. Using newly-collected enterprise data for 6,466 manufacturing formal firms across 14 countries in Latin America, the authors show that formal firms affected by head-to-head competition with informal firms largely resemble them.

Indigenous peoples in Latin America : economic opportunities and social networks
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2007/05/03/00001640620070503093331/Rendered/PDF/wps4227.pdf
Lunde, Trine; Skoufias, Emmanuel; Patrinos, Harry Anthony; World Bank 2006
Despite significant changes in poverty overall in Latin America, the proportion of indigenous peoples living in poverty did not change much from the early 1990s to the present. While earlier work focused on human development, much less has been done on the distribution and returns to income-generating assets and the effect these have on income generation strategies. The authors show that low income and low assets are mutually reinforcing. For instance, low education levels translate into low income, resulting in poor health and reduced schooling for future generations. Social networks affect the economic opportunities of individuals through two important channels-information and norms. However, the analysis shows that the networks available to indigenous peoples do not facilitate employment in nontraditional sectors.

IDB launches DataGob portal of governance indicators
http://www.iadb.org/datagob/homeesp.html
The Inter-American Development Bank unveiled DataGob, an innovative portal that offers access to some 400 governance indicators, covering topics as varied as support for democracy, the cost of starting a business, wastefulness in government spending and police corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean and other developing regions of the world. The indicators available at DataGob come from 30 different sources, including academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, private firms and multilateral agencies. They cover four major areas: democracy, markets, public sector management and rule of law, as well as a number of key socioeconomic indicators.

Institutional Capacities for Small Business Policy Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
http://www.iadb.org/sds/MIC/publication/publication1594542e.htm
This IDB study offers a description of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector in LAC by gathering and analyzing the available data. It high-lights the quality of information that exists in the region, and thus identifies gaps in the information. The study also presents a comparative analysis of the capacity of national MSME institutions to support small business development in the LAC region. Based on this assessment the authors draw attention to a lack of quality information about the MSME sector and disparate levels of institutional capacity in Latin America and recommend the development of an MSME Institutional Learning System to organize and promote the sharing of information among MSME support institutions of all types in LAC, as well as with their inter-national counterparts and international development organizations.

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