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1. The Politics of Pineapple: Examining the Inequitable Impacts of Southern Costa Rica's Pineapple Industry

Author:
Jennifer Brown, Tara Flint, and Jessca LaMay
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
The Global North’s growing demand for fresh pineapple has created a system that is disproportionately profitable for companies and consumers in those countries to the detriment of people living and working in the Global South. Since the mid-1980s the Pineapple Development Corporation (PINDECO), a subsidiary of U.S.-based Del Monte, has established a monopoly over fresh pineapple exports in southern Costa Rica. We conducted pilot research in the municipalities of Buenos Aires and San Isidro del General in 2019, where the majority of PINDECO’s production takes place. PINDECO and the Costa Rican state claim pineapple production is beneficial to national development through its contribution to Costa Rican gross domestic product and employment opportunities, but our research and recent data reveal that in pineapple producing areas in the southwest, poverty levels remain high with worsening water and food security despite PINDECO’s large profit margins. There are numerous human and environmental health concerns linked to pineapple monocropping. Intensive pesticide use often utilizes chemicals that are banned or restricted in the countries they are imported from. PINDECO has been able to evade responsibility for environmental damages and social welfare obligations to employees while maintaining a largely positive public image through a lax regulatory environment and extensive subcontracting structure. This article connects regional socioeconomic issues to the intricate power dynamics and collusion between industry and state. The findings suggest that Costa Rica is not as environmentally conscious and sustainable as its public image portrays, with pockets of profit-driven industries taking precedence over community well-being and environmental sustainability.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and International Development
Political Geography:
South America, Central America, and Costa Rica

2. Mexico Peace Index 2020: Identifying and measuring the factors that drive peace

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace
Abstract:
The 2020 report is the seventh edition of the Mexico Peace Index (MPI), produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), and provides a comprehensive measure of peacefulness in Mexico, including trends, analysis and estimates of the economic impact of violence. The MPI is based on the Global Peace Index, the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness, produced by IEP every year since 2007.
Topic:
Economics, Peace Studies, Peacekeeping, Conflict, Violence, and Peace
Political Geography:
Central America and Mexico

3. La Riqueza Escondida de Loreto: Análisis de Complejidad Económica y Oportunidades de Diversificación Productiva

Author:
Ricardo Hausmann and Miguel Angel Santos
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
El Laboratorio de Crecimiento de la Universidad de Harvard, bajo el auspicio de la Fundación Gordon and Betty Moore, ha desarrollado esta investigación para identificar las capacidades productivas existentes en Loreto y las actividades económicas con potencial para liderar la transformación estructural de su economía. Este reporte forma parte de una investigación más amplia – Transformación estructural y restricciones limitantes a la prosperidad en Loreto, Perú – que busca aportar insumos para el desarrollo de políticas públicas a escala nacional y regional que contribuyan a promover el desarrollo productivo y la prosperidad de la región, tomando en cuenta sus características particulares.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Diversification, and Economic Complexity
Political Geography:
Central America and Mexico

4. Mexico Peace Index 2019: Identifying and measuring the factors that drive peace

Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace
Abstract:
The 2019 Mexico Peace Index (MPI), produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), provides a comprehensive measure of peacefulness in Mexico. The MPI is based on the Global Peace Index (GPI), the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness, produced by IEP every year since 2007. This is the sixth edition of the MPI, outlining the key trends, patterns and drivers of peace in Mexico, including an analysis through the lens of Positive Peace, which reviews eight societal structures and highlight areas important for government policy. The report also estimates the economic impact of violence to the Mexican economy, highlighting the need to increase investment and capacity in the criminal justice system. Finally, the report provides quantitative evidence to aid in the development of policies for a more peaceful society. The research is of assistance to policymakers, researchers, business leaders and the general public working towards building peace in Mexico.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Peace Studies, Peacekeeping, Violence, Public Policy, and Peace
Political Geography:
Central America and Mexico

5. Construction of an Extended Environmental and Economic Social Accounting Matrix from a Practitioner’s Perspective

Author:
Onil Banerjee, Martin Cicowiez, Renato Vargas, and Mark Horridge
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
In 2014, the United Nations published the first International Standard for environmental economic statistics, known as the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).. As more countries adopt and implement the SEEA, the availability of consistent environmental and economic information increases the need for analytical tools that can use this data to respond to policy relevant questions. In this paper, we present a workflow to develop an environmentally extended social accounting matrix, which can serve as the basic database for the development of environmentally-extended computable general equilibrium models. To illustrate, and given its comprehensive implementation of the SEEA, we apply this workflow to the Guatemalan case and the Integrated Economic-Environmental Modeling (IEEM) Platform.
Topic:
Economics, United Nations, Basic Data, Accountability, Economic Policy, and Statistics
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, Central America, Guatemala, and Global Focus

6. Mexico Peace Index 2018:A comprehensive measure of peacefulness in Mexico

Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace
Abstract:
The 2018 Mexico Peace Index (MPI), produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), provides a comprehensive measure of peacefulness in Mexico. The MPI is based on the work of the Global Peace Index, which is the leading measure of global peacefulness and has been produced by IEP every year since 2007. This is the fifth annual edition of the MPI, setting out the key trends, patterns and drivers of peace in Mexico, while also highlighting the most significant policy opportunities available to governments. The report analyses the dynamics of violence in Mexico and the strengths and weaknesses of the attitudes, institutions and structures, known as Positive Peace, needed to substantially lower the rates of violence. The report also estimates the significant economic impact of violence to the Mexican economy and the need to increase the level of investment in violence containment. Finally, the report provides strong quantitative evidence to aid in the development of policies to create a more peaceful society. The research is of assistance to policymakers, researchers, business leaders and the general public in building peace in Mexico.
Topic:
Economics, Peace Studies, Conflict, Violence, and Peace
Political Geography:
Central America and Mexico

7. Place-specific Determinants of Income Gaps: New Sub-National Evidence from Chiapas, Mexico

Author:
Ricardo Hausmann, Carlo Pietrobelli, and Miguel Angel Santos
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
The literature on income gaps between Chiapas and the rest of Mexico revolves around individual factors, such as education and ethnicity. Yet, twenty years after the Zapatista rebellion, the schooling gap between Chiapas and the other Mexican entities has shrunk while the income gap has widened, and we find no evidence indicating that Chiapas indigenes are worse-off than their likes elsewhere in Mexico. We explore a different hypothesis. Based on census data, we calculate the economic complexity index, a measure of the knowledge agglomeration embedded in the economic activities at a municipal level in Mexico. Economic complexity explains a larger fraction of the income gap than any individual factor. Our results suggest that chiapanecos are not the problem, the problem is Chiapas. These results hold when we extend our analysis to Mexico’s thirty-one federal entities, suggesting that place-specific determinants that have been overlooked in both the literature and policy, have a key role in the determination of income gaps.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Migration, Political Economy, and Economic Inequality
Political Geography:
Central America, Mexico, and Chiapas

8. Appraising the Economic Potential of Panama: Policy Recommendations for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth

Author:
Ricardo Hausmann, Miguel Angel Santos, and Juan Obach
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
This report aims to summarize the main findings of the project as gathered by the three baseline documents, and frame them within a coherent set of policy recommendations that can help Panama to maintain their growth momentum in time and make it more inclusive. Three elements stand out as cornerstones of our proposal: (i) attracting and retaining qualified human capital; (ii) maximizing the diffusion of know-how and knowledge spillovers, and (iii) leveraging on public-private dialog to tackle coordination problems that are hindering economic activity outside the Panama-Colón axis.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Economic growth, and Economic Policy
Political Geography:
Central America and Panama

9. John Carey on Latin American populism — Adriana La Rotta on the narco years in Colombia — Nancy Pérez on Central American migrants

Author:
John Carey, Adriana La Rotta, and Nancy Perez
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Americas Quarterly
Institution:
Council of the Americas
Abstract:
Latin American Populism in the Twenty-First Century edited by Carlos de la Torre and Cynthia J. Arnson BY JOHN M. CAREY Legend has it that on his deathbed, Juan Domingo Perón, the former President of Argentina, uttered a curse condemning any would-be biographer to dedicate his or her career to defining populism. Or perhaps the curse was issued on the lost page of the late Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas' suicide note, or slipped in among the bills in an envelope passed surreptitiously by Alberto Fujimori to some Peruvian legislator, or whispered by the recently deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez into the ear of his successor, Nicolás Maduro. No matter. Whoever first uttered the curse, it worked: political scientists studying the region have wrestled and been obsessed with the concept for decades. We want to write about populism. Indeed, we need to write about it, because populism is among the most important and persistent phenomena in modern Latin American politics. But because the populist label has been applied to such a broad array of phenomena, we are condemned to define it before we can embark on any serious analysis. Academic exactitude being what it is, this leads first to extended consideration of what others have held populism to be, followed by a self-perpetuating and seemingly inescapable cycle of judgment, distinction and justification.
Topic:
Economics and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, Argentina, Colombia, Latin America, and Central America

10. Guatemala's Military Man, Nicaragua's Revolutionary

Author:
Mike McDonald
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Americas Quarterly
Institution:
Council of the Americas
Abstract:
The newly elected leaders of Guatemala and Nicaragua are familiar. So are the problems they face.
Topic:
Economics and War
Political Geography:
Cuba, Central America, and Guatemala