Augusto de la Torre

Interest in access to finance and awareness of its importance have increased significantly since the early 2000s. Growing evidence suggests that lack of access to credit prevents many households and firms from financing high-return investment projects, which has an adverse effect on growth and poverty alleviation. Despite the increasing awareness of the importance of access to finance among both researchers and policymakers, there are still some major gaps in our understanding of the main drivers of access, as well as about the impact of different policies in this area. This book aims to fill some of these gaps by discussing recent innovative experiences in broadening access to credit in Latin America. These experiences are consistent with an emerging new view that, while recognizing the central role of the public sector in improving the contractual and informational environment for financial markets, contends that there might be room for well-designed, restricted interventions in collaboration with the private sector to foster the development of financial markets and broaden access to them. The book analyzes some interesting experiences from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, most of which have led to financial innovation by developing new financial products and coordinating different players in the financial and real sectors to overcome barriers to access to credit. The book provides an analytical framework to understand problems of access to finance and a discussion of the effects and optimal design of public interventions. It also discusses some open policy questions about the role of the private and public sectors in broadening access to finance in a sustainable and market-friendly manner.

The world economy is not what it used to be twenty years ago. For most of the 20th century, the world economy was characterized by developed (North) countries acting as 'center' to a 'periphery' of developing (South) countries. However, the recent rise of developing economies suggests the need to go beyond this North-South dichotomy. This tectonic re-configuration of the global landscape has brought about significant changes to countries in the Latin America and Caribean (LAC) region. The time is ripe for an in-depth analysis of the dynamics and nature of LAC's external connections. This latest volume in the World Bank Latin American and Caribbean Studies series will focus on the implications of these trends for the economic development of LAC countries. In particular, trade, financial, macroeconomic, and sectoral shifts, as well as labor-market aspects will be systematically analyzed. This is the Spanish edition.

The world economy is not what it used to be twenty years ago. For most of the 20th century, the world economy was characterized by developed (North) countries acting as center to a periphery of developing (South) countries. However, the recent rise of developing economies suggests the need to go beyond this North-South dichotomy. This tectonic re-configuration of the global landscape has brought about significant changes to countries in the Latin America and Caribean (LAC) region. The time is ripe for an in-depth analysis of the dynamics and nature of LAC s external connections. This latest volume in the World Bank Latin American and Caribbean Studies series will focus on the implications of these trends for the economic development of LAC countries. In particular, trade, financial, macroeconomic, and sectoral shifts, as well as labor-market aspects will be systematically analyzed."

Policy makers in many countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region have found it challenging to determine how to treat natural resource commodity production and how to manage the recurrent cycles of booms and busts. Natural Resources in Latin America and the Caribbean: Beyond Booms and Busts? addresses the major concerns associated with commodity dependence, summarising the state of the art in existing literature and filling in the knowledge gaps with new analysis. The report finds that some commonly accepted negative effects of dependence on natural resources are largely myths, while some are realities. But the authors find that all the effects can be managed, and they provide practical advice on how to do so. Issues covered include long-term fiscal growth, fiscal volatility, institutional impacts, and environmental and social effects. The report analyses the implications for the region's development and policies.

Seeks to inform Governments and civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean as well the global community about the potential costs and benefits of combating climate change, their policy options over the next decades, and the global context for these policy decisions.

Until recently, students of development have put much more energy into understanding the causes and consequences of absolute poverty than of inequality. But globalization —with its new opportunities for winners and losers, and its new insecurities and competitive pressures —is changing that. Nowhere is the issue of inequality more worrying than in Latin America, the setting for many of the world's most unequal societies. This book presents a dozen ideas or "tools" meant to make life in Latin America more equitable and fair for the great majority of its people. It suggests policies and programs for making tax structures more progressive; giving small businesses a chance; protecting labor mobility and workers' rights; tackling corruption head on; and raising the levels of quality, efficiency, and equity of the education systems. Change and reform in the direction of greater fairness will require not only political leadership and technical know-how on the part of government officials and legislators, but support and input from the progressive business community, the increasingly effective and vocal civil society, and students and intellectuals.

This book sheds light on the analytical, empirical, and policy dimensions of a basic stylized fact - that the development of local capital markets in most of Latin America has been quite poor relative to other emerging economies and to global trends. Importantly, it discusses the implications for the capital market reform agenda going forward, emphasizing the need for revisions to the prevalent policy paradigm.

Back in the early 1990s, economists and policy makers had high expectations about the prospects for domestic capital market development in emerging economies, particularly in Latin America. Unfortunately, they are now faced with disheartening results. Stock and bond markets remain illiquid and segmented. Debt is concentrated at the short end of the maturity spectrum and denominated in foreign currency, exposing countries to maturity and currency risk. Capital markets in Latin America look particularly underdeveloped when considering the many efforts undertaken to improve the macroeconomic environment and to reform the institutions believed to foster capital market development. The disappointing performance has made conventional policy recommendations questionable, at best. Emerging Capital Markets and Globalization analyzes where we stand and where we are heading on capital market development. First, it takes stock of the state and evolution of Latin American capital markets and related reforms over time and relative to other countries. Second, it analyzes the factors related to the development of capital markets, with particular interest on measuring the impact of reforms. And third, in light of this analysis, it discusses the prospects for capital market development in Latin America and emerging economies and the implications for the reform agenda.