This paper presents an integrated overview of the literature linking institutions, financial development and economic growth. From the large body of research on institutional development, the paper first selects those contributions that make it possible to study the role of institutional...

Promotion of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been a priority policy goal in Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic for the past twenty years. Fiscal benefits are among the policies that have been used to attract it. At first sight the model followed has been fruitful. In 2013 the...

This paper combines development and growth accounting exercises with economic theory to estimate the relative importance of total factor productivity and the accumulation of factors of production in the economic development performance of Latin America. The region’s development performance is...

This paper is part of the project "Explaining Economic Growth Performance" launched by the Global Development Network (GDN). The purpose of this project is to explain economic growth performances across seven regions of the world. This paper provides a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of...

This paper examines Brazilian economic growth as part of the project "Explaining Economic Growth Performance" launched by the Global Development Network (GDN), the purpose of which is to explain economic growth performances across seven regions of the world. According to the author of this...

This study focuses on how Latin America¿s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can participate in global markets in a way that provides for sustainable growth. In addition, it study analyzes the impact of collective efficiency on clusters upgrading and undertakes an investigation of the...

This paper sums up the experience of a Brazilian cluster of small and medium enterprises in the Sinos Valley. It shows that cooperation amongst local enterprises strengthens their ability to compete globally and that business associations can play an important role in identifying the key...

The presentation gives a brief overview of the most important aspects of adjustment strategies in the ceramic tile cluster in Criciúma and the textiles and clothing cluster in Itajaí Valley, Brazil. It also addresses the question of why industrial district-like structures did not emerge in the...

This study assesses poverty in the microenterprise sector in Latin America, presenting stylized facts on potential poverty risk factors at the household and individual levels. The goal of the paper is to describe the main trends in the region and the scope of the paper is limited to a...

This paper contributes to the analysis of the Caribbean's growth performance by setting out a framework for benchmarking indicators of key micro drivers and related structural policies that help explain differentials in productivity and real GDP per capita across the region, and relative to...