Complexity systems and middle-income trap: the long-term roots of Latin America underdevelopment [Sistemas complexos e armadilha da renda media: as raízes de longo prazo do subdesenvolvimento latino-americano]

Fernanda Cimini, Jorge Britto and Leonardo Costa Ribeiro
Additional contact information
Fernanda Cimini: UFMG
Jorge Britto: UFF
Leonardo Costa Ribeiro: UFMG

Nova Economia, 2020, vol. 30, issue spe, 1225-1256

Abstract: Our intent is to reinterpret the concept of middle-income trap using the language of the complex system approach to refer to the unpredictability, non-linearity and the enormous range of possible behaviors of economic development in the long-term time series. By redefining the concept of trap in those terms, we propose to shed light on the institutional background of economic development. In order to advance our argument, we conduct a case study of Latin America, a region that has presented an unstable and non-linear economic trajectory across the 20th century. We argue that the combination between the colonial economic legacy and the political fragmentation amid the process of independence shaped the socio-economic structure and institutional capabilities for years to come, restricting the possibilities of overcoming underdevelopment.

Keywords: middle-income trap; complex system; institutions; Latin America; underdevelopment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B15 C32 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/neco/v30nspe/1980-5381-neco-30-spe-1225.pdf (application/pdf)
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext ... nrm=iso&tlng=en#aff1 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nov:artigo:v:30:y:2020:i:spe:p:1225-1256

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627 - Predio da FACE Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Brazil
https://revistas.fac ... dex.php/novaeconomia

Access Statistics for this article

Nova Economia is currently edited by Gustavo de Britto Rocha

More articles in Nova Economia from Economics Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil) Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627 - Predio da FACE Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Brazil. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Lucas Resende de Carvalho ().