Suchergebnisse

Since the end of the Civil War in 1992, El Salvador has advanced on both the social and political fronts. Despite this progress and the recent reductions in income inequality, poverty remains high, largely as a result of low economic growth. This Systematic Country Diagnostic argues that the challenge in El Salvador is not to identify the proximate constraints to growth, but how those constraints are inter-connected and what entry points may help break what can be characterized as "vicious circles." The Systematic Country Diagnostic identifies three inter- connected vicious circles that hamper growth and shared prosperity: (1) a cycle of low growth and violence; (2) a cycle of low growth and migration; and (3) a cycle of low growth, savings and investment. Moreover, it also notes action on the identified entry points will require a "big push" (rather than marginal interventions) that help break the existing development dynamics. But this Systematic Country Diagnostic also identifies some strengths that El Salvador could build on to propel growth. Areas of opportunity include migration with the positive impact of diaspora on development, geographic and cultural proximity to large export markets, particularly the U.S., and an industrial base that can support an expansion of the tradable sector. At 20 percent of GDP the manufacturing sector is large by Latina American and by middle-income country standards.

Although the Latin American region's growth rates are at a three decade high, they have been historically disappointing in relative terms, which cannot be dissociated from the microeconomic environment in which firms operate. Policy makers may need to complement their focus on macroeconomic stability with an increased emphasis on microeconomic reforms. By providing empirical evidence linking actual firm performance to shortcomings in Latin America's investment climate, the book discusses policies that could have a significant impact on firm productivity by improving the environment in which fi

Costa Rica stands out for being among the most politically stable, progressive, prosperous, and environmentally conscious nations in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Its development model has brought important economic, social, and environmental dividends, with sustained growth, upward mobility for a large share of the population, important gains in social indicators, and significant achievements in reforestation and conservation. However, there are a number of development challenges that need to be addressed to maintain the country's successful development path. This Systematic Country Diagnostic takes stock of the poverty, inequality, and growth trends, addressing the following questions: To what extent has the Costa Rican development model been inclusive? What has driven growth in Costa Rica in recent years, and what are the bottlenecks that need to be addressed? How sustainable is the development model of Costa Rica economically, socially, and environmentally?

That raising income levels alleviates poverty, and that economic growth can be more or less effective in doing so, is well known and has received renewed attention in the search for pro-poor growth. What is less well explored is the reverse channel: that poverty may, in fact, be part of the reason for a country's poor growth performance. This more elabborated view of the development process opens the door to the existence of vicious circles in which low growth results in high poverty and high poverty in turn results in low growth. Poverty Reduction and Growth is about the existence of these vicious circles in Latin America and the Caribbean about the ways and means to convert them into virtuous circles in which poverty reduction and high growth reinforce each other. Through its analysis of fresh data and the attention it pays to issues such as the persistent inequality in the region, the role played by various microdeterminants of income, and the potential existence of human capital underinvestment traps, this title should be a valuable contribution to the current regional debate on poverty and growth, a debate that is critical to the design of policies conducive to enhancing welfare in all is dimensions among the poor of Latin America and the Caribbean.