Institutional Quality and Economic Growth in Latin America
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W. Charles Sawyer
The purpose of this paper is to relate total factor productivity to the problem of economic growth in Latin America. Slow economic growth has been the most important problem in the modern history of the region. The paper extensively reviews the literature on the determinants of economic growth in Latin America and shows that the slow growth of total factor productivity (TFP) seems to be the primary problem. Further, this problem is linked to the quality of institutions in the region. Unfortunately, the concept of institutional quality is very difficult to define in a meaningful way. This affects public policy towards economic growth in the region. Finally, it is shown that the problem that has been identified may be crucial for Latin America but the region is hardly unique in this regard.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Model Structure and the Combined Welfare and Trade Effects of China's Trade Related Policies
- Institutional Quality and Economic Growth in Latin America
- Exchange Rates and the Effectiveness of Actual and Oral Official Interventions: A Survey on Findings, Issues and Policy Implications
- What's New in Our World?
- NAFTA, Environmental Kuznets Curves, and Mexico's Progress
- Re-Imagining the U.S.-Mexico Border: Policies toward a More Competitive and Sustainable Transborder Region
- Backtracking from Globalization
- Will Technological Progress Cure the "Advanced Technology Products" Trade Account Deficit?
