Search

Begin New Search Topic Economics Political Geography Central America

21. Economic Survey of Mexico, 2005

Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Fiscal management has been successful in recent years, and the backdrop of an inflation-targeting monetary policy has helped anchor expectations that macroeconomic stability is here to stay. In addition, the financial sector has gone through an important transformation and a broader and deeper domestic capital market has developed. This will enable the Mexican authorities to turn more of their attention to long-term priorities, which are where the important policy challenges increasingly lie. Faster growth of living standards will require reforms to the tax system so as to finance the appropriate level of current spending and long-term investment needs. Fiscal relations between the different levels of government need to be re-thought so as to ensure a more effective and more equitable use of revenues. Part of higher oil revenues should be earmarked for financing some important multi-year but finite programmes. Major reforms to education, the labour market, the electricity industry, other network sectors and ways of doing business are also desirable, and will help spur investment in Mexico's future by both domestic and foreign firms. It is important that reforms be assessed and judged by legislators on their intrinsic merits rather than through the prism of short-term political considerations.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Emerging Markets
Political Geography:
Central America and Mexico

22. International Investor Influence in the 1994-1995 Mexican Peso Crisis

Author:
Charles W. Parker III
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
This essay provides a detailed overview, at a market- and firm- level, of the involvement and influence international portfolio investors had in the development and outcomes of the Mexico Peso Crisis of 1994-1995. It address two problems with the literature that is critical of the role of international investors during the crisis; the lack of specific data of market activity by firms that were engaged in Mexico during the volatile period before and after the December 1994 devaluation, and details on private creditor interactions with government officials in key episodes of the crisis. Through a review of the literature, industry data, and confidential interviews with key governmental and private actors, this essay concludes that there was sizable concentration of international investment firms engaged in Mexico, but claims they instigated or exacerbated the crisis are overblown; global funds rather than emerging market funds were a more likely culprit in Mexican market volatility and only after the devaluation; the role of investment banks as participants has been underestimated and is important in understanding collective action problems in finding a solution to the crisis; and a lack of information and mutual confidence, as well as policy overdependence on foreign capital flows, rather than purported “structural power,” were far more important factors in determining the onset and outcomes of the crisis.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
Central America and Mexico

23. The Payoff from Globalization

Author:
Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Paul L. E. Grieco
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The battle over the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) promises a reprise of familiar themes. While contemporary commentators may connect their arguments to NAFTA, in fact the "modern" debate over trade barriers can be traced back to British Corn Laws. Enacted to protect land barons, the Corn Laws were finally repealed in 1846 to make way for what Martin Wolf has called the "first age of globalization."
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, Globalization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Central America

24. The Microeconomics of Inequality, Poverty and Market Liberalizing Reforms

Author:
Rafael E. De Hoyos
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper illustrates how the use of microeconometric techniques can be used to uncover the micro dynamics behind macro shocks. Using Mexican micro data we find out that—controlling for everything else—between 1994 and 1998 returns to personal characteristics in the tradable sector increase d particularly those of skilled labourers. By the year 2000 the positive shock upon the tradeable sector vanishes with returns to personal characteristics converging to the levels observed in the non-tradable sector. We use our model's results to simulate a scenario where the Mexican economy experienced the negative shock of the peso crises in the absence of trade liberalization (NAFTA) and find out that under such a scenario the poverty headcount ratio would have increased more than 2 percentage points above the one observed in 1996. The simulated second- order effect of these changes shows that the skill mixed changed in a way that favoured relatively skilled men and relatively unskilled women. These changes in labour participation and occupation had an overall positive income effect though adverse in distributive terms.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
Central America

25. The Role of Perceived Opportunity in Fertility Choice: Evidence from Latin America

Author:
Louise C. Keely and Margaret MacLeod
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
We hypothesize that the perceived returns to human capital and to income uncertainty are important determinants of recent cross-sectional variation in Latin American fertility. An empirical study of cross-country individual level data supports the hypothesis. In particular, we find that a higher perceived return to human capital and higher income uncertainty both lead to higher fertility, all else equal. We interpret the evidence to suggest that increasing economic opportunity in Latin America should be accompanied by institutions that provide social protection in order to promote further decreases in fertility toward the replacement rate.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, Central America, and Caribbean

26. Peace-building and Development in Guatemala and Northern Ireland

Author:
Charles A. Reilly
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
Guatemala and Northern Ireland signed historic peace accords in 1996 and 1998 respectively. This paper, part of a longer term project comparing lessons learned from implementation in the two cases, focuses especially on Guatemala, making some middle range peace/development policy recommendations for that country's recently elected government and civil society organizations. Despite very different economic development levels, both countries are divided, find peace implementation difficult, and are heavily influenced by outside actors - including their own diaspora. Guatemala is deeply divided internally along class, race and ethnic lines, with more than 15% of its population in the U.S. (and close affinity with Mayan peoples who live across the Mexican border). Ireland too is divided along religious and ethnic lines, a border crosses the island. The North is linked politically to the United Kingdom, with social ties to emigrant populations there, in the south and in the United States. Guatemala, like its Central American neighbor El Salvador, embarked on peace-building with UN oversight, while the Northern Irish had United Kingdom and Irish Republic support for making peace. (Without pre-judging an eventual political resolution of the two Irelands, I'll refer to both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, since that peace process, like Guatemala's, necessarily transcends borders). When compared to Northern Ireland, Guatemalan religious differences are minor, and religious leaders, Catholic, Protestant and Mayan played key roles in the peace process. Emigration figures large in both settings, as do many centuries of colonial or imperial domination. Both countries have struggled with post-accord violence which has reached alarming levels in Guatemala. Peace and development are inseparable - hence I emphasize growth with equity issues that are cause and consequence of both conflicts.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Central America, Mexico, and North Ireland

27. The carter center financing democracy in guatemala. Final Report: Financing Democracy in Guatemala

Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
In recent years discussions about the quality of democracy in the Western Hemisphere have focused increasing concern on the financing of political parties and their campaigns. Unlimited spending on campaigns is believed (correctly or not) to have raised the cost of elections to the point where poor candidates stand little chance of competing and the prospect of creating a level playing field for parties and their candidates has become decidedly remote. Undisclosed contributions of licit or illicit origin by wealthy donors have meanwhile intensified the dependence of elected officials on their campaign funders, increasing the likelihood that politicians respond to donor interests and hindering effective representation for the ordinary citizen in the making of public policy. In tandem, these trends are contributing to public cynicism about parties and candidates, and about the possibilities for meaningful citizen participation in politics.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America and Central America

28. Financing Democracy in the Americas

Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Citizens throughout the hemisphere increasingly question the integrity of political processes with opaque methods of financing and access. After a quarter-century of democratic governance, money-conscious voters in Latin America's troubled economies have begun to ask whether elections really allow them to hold governments accountable for enacting promised reform s or whether instead politicians respond primarily to the special interest groups who fund their campaigns. Democracy remains a valued good, but questions are being asked about how much it costs, who pays, and whether the need to raise funds distorts policy agendas.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America and Central America

29. Las relaciones económicas internacionales de México hacia el siglo XXI: retos y oportunidades. Reporte.

Author:
Antonio Ortiz Mena L.N. and Ninfa Fuentes
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
On December 2002, the Division of International Studies (DEI) at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) organized the forum “The International Economic Relations of Mexico: Challenges and Opportunities” with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The forum approached the international economic relationships of Mexico, from the regional and multilateral perspectives. The objective of the forum and of this document is to evaluate the relationships that Mexico maintains with each one of the regions and countries approached in the forum, highlighting the challenges and the opportunities that each one of them presents. We live an opportune moment to design a prospective and coherent vision of the international economic relationships of Mexico in the XXI Century among government's organs in order to avoid arriving to a point in which Mexico would have a reduced maneuver margin. The participants who took part in the forum and a list of acronyms are included at the beginning of the document. The conference agenda can be found as well. This document intends to reproduce the essence of the forum discussions and the participants' presentations. It is our intention to reflect in a clear and honest manner the participants' statements in this paper. Any lack of precision is not intentional and is exclusively our responsibility.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
Central America and Mexico

30. Well-being and the Complexity of Poverty: A Subjective Well-being Approach

Author:
Mariano Rojas
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This investigation studies human well-being from a subjective well-being approach. On the basis of a Mexican database the investigation shows that there is a weak relationship between subjective well-being and indicators of well-being such as income and consumption. Therefore, subjective well-being provides additional useful information to study human well-being and, in consequence, poverty.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Latin America, Central America, North America, and Mexico