Understanding reform in Latin America

Alvaro Javier Forteza () and Mariano Tommasi ()

No 2205, Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) from Department of Economics - dECON

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the pro-market reform process in eight Latin American countries, based on country studies undertaken within the Understanding Reform project of the Global Development Network. After a brief presentation of the reform in Latin America and in the eight countries in the project, the paper addresses some key themes on the political economy of reform. We review the initial conditions of reform; the role played by technocrats and stakeholders; political participation; the peculiar shortcut to reform represented by "policy switches" (announcing something to do the opposite); some traditional topics in the literature on reform like sequencing, shocks and learning; the apparently key role played by local characteristics; the complex feedbacks between pro-market reforms and the political process; and the recent backlash against reform in Latin America. The paper ends with some remarks mostly on normative lessons from this experience.

Keywords: Reform; Washington Consensus; Political Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O54 O57 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-his, nep-lam and nep-pol
Date: 2005-12
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ude:wpaper:2205

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