Productivity Growth in Latin American and the Caribbean : Exploring the Macro-Micro Linkages

Thompson Araujo, Jorge ; Vostroknutova, Ekaterina ; Wacker, Konstantin

Washington, DC: World Bank

关键词: MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS;    VULNERABILITY;    ECONOMIC GROWTH;   

RP-ID  :  120956

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper brings together the mainfindings and policy implications of two recent World Bankregional reports on economic growth in Latin America and theCaribbean: Araujo, Vostroknutova, Wacker and Clavijo, eds.(2016) and Araujo, Vostroknutova, Brueckner, Clavijo, andWacker (2016). In doing so, the paper focuses on finding theright balance between micro- and macro-inference whenthinking about growth in Latin America and the Caribbean.The paper documents the region's growth performanceover the past decade, highlighting the roles played by thecommodity boom, macroeconomic stabilization and structuralreforms. It notes that, despite faster growth during thefirst decade of this century, the region failed to achievesustained convergence towards higher income levels. Thepaper points out that the persistent income gap could bereduced through: (i) increasing focus on closing theefficiency gap – beyond mere factor accumulation; (ii)eliminating distortions that cause misallocation ofresources will also improve the incentives to innovate;(iii) identifying the main country-specific constraints togrowth instead of looking for universal recipes; (iv)containing macroeconomic volatility, thereby alleviating thenegative impact of persistent poverty on growth; and (v)improving the composition of public spending.