The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Economics

Latin America has been central to the main debates on development economics, ranging from the relationships between income inequality and economic growth, and the importance of geography versus institutions in development, to debates on the effects of trade, trade openness and protection on growth and income distribution. Despite increasing interest in the region there are few English language books on Latin American economics. This Handbook, organized into five parts, aims to fill this significant gap. Part I looks at long-term issues, including the institutional roots of Latin America's underdevelopment, the political economy of policy making, the rise, decline and re-emergence of alternative paradigms, and the environmental sustainability of the development pattern. Part II considers macroeconomic topics, including the management of capital account booms and busts, the evolution and performance of exchange rate regimes, the advances and challenges of monetary policies and financial development, and the major fiscal policy issues confronting the region, including a comparison of Latin American fiscal accounts with those of the OECD. Part III analyzes the region's economies in global context, particularly the role of Latin America in the world trade system and the effects of dependence on natural resources (characteristic of many countries of the region) on growth and human development. It reviews the trends of foreign direct investment, the opportunities and challenges raised by the emergence of China as buyer of the region's commodities and competitor in the world market, and the transformation of the Latin America from a region of immigration to one of massive emigration. Part IV deals with matters of productive development. At the aggregate level it analyzes issues of technological catching up and divergence as well as different perspectives on the poor productivity and growth performance of the region during recent decades. At the sectoral level, it looks at agricultural policies and performance, the problems and prospects of the energy sector, and the effects on growth of lagging infrastructure development. Part V looks at the social dimensions of development; it analyzes the evolution of income inequality, poverty, and economic insecurity in the region, the evolution of labor markets and the performance of the educational sector, as well as the evolution of social assistance programs and social security reforms in the region. The contributors are leading researchers that belong to different schools of economic thought and most come from countries throughout Latin America, representing a range of views and recognising the diversity of the region. This Handbook is a significant contribution to the field, and will be of interest to academics, graduate students and policy makers interested in economics, political economy, and public policy in Latin America and other developing economies.

1 - Shifting Paradigms in Latin America's Economic Development
2 - Institutions and the Historical Roots of Latin American Divergence
3 - Political Institutions, Policymaking, and Economic Policy in Latin America
4 - The Washington Consensus: Assessing A 'Damaged Brand'
5 - From Old to New Developmentalism in Latin America
6 - Environmental Sustainability
7 - Taming Capital Account Shocks: Managing Booms and Busts
8 - Exchange Rate Regimes in Latin America
9 - Monetary Policy in Latin America: Performance under Crisis and the Challenges of Exuberance
10 - Domestic Financial Development in Latin America
11 - Fiscal Policy in Latin America
12 - Fiscal Legitimacy, Inequalities and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America
13 - Latin America in the World Trade System
14 - Regional Integration
15 - The Effects of Trade Liberalization on Growth, Employment and Wages
16 - Recent Commodity Price Boom and Latin American Growth: More than New Bottles for an Old Wine?
17 - Curse or Blessing? Natural Resources and Human Development
18 - Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America.
19 - China and the Future of Latin American Economic Development
20 - Latin America in the Recent Wave of International Migration
21 - Structural Transformation and Economic Growth in Latin America
22 - Learning, Technological Capabilities and Structural Dynamics
23 - Why Has Productivity Growth Stagnated In Most Latin American Countries Since The Neo-Liberal Reforms?
24 - Agricultural and Rural Development
25 - An Energy Panorama of Latin America
26 - Infrastructure in Latin America
27 - The Rise and Fall of Income Inequality in Latin America
28 - Multidimensional Poverty in Latin America: Concept, Measurement and Policy
29 - Economic Insecurity and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
30 - Employment: The Dominance of the Informal Economy
31 - Latin American Labor Reforms: Evaluating Risk and Security
32 - Education
33 - Social Assistance in Latin America: Achievements and Limitations
34 - Social Security Reforms in Latin America

Jos'e Antonio Ocampo is Professor and Director of the Economic and Political Development Program at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and Member of the Committee on Global Thought, and Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University, New York. He is a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL), and Minister of Finance of Colombia. ; Jaime Ros is Professor of Economics and Fellow of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame. He is former Professor of Economics at the Centro de Investigaci'on y Docencia Ecoc'omicas (CIDE), Mexico D.F. and Senior Economist at the Secretariat of the South Commission, Geneva. He has been a consultant for several international organizations and governments in Latin America.