Age of Productivity offers a look at how the low productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean is preventing the region from catching up with the developed world. The authors look beyond the traditional macro explanations and dig all the way down to the industry and firm level to uncover the causes.

"In recent years the literature on the economics of growth has benefited greatly from the recognition that growth happens firm by firm, idea by idea, even individual by individual. This impressive volume, published by the Inter-American Development Bank, is evidence that the same spirit has began to animate the policy community." - Abhijit V. Banerjee, Department of Economics, M.I.T. "By looking at the policy challenges faced by Latin America through the lens of productivity, this report provides a fresh view on topics as diverse as factor markets, trade, social policy, taxation, and industrial policy." - Eduardo Engel, Professor of Economics, Yale University "Increasingly, we have learned by building up from firm level evidence that it is the misallocation of resources within industries that plays a critical role in the poor productivity performance of low-income and slow growing economies. Distortions to the size distribution of firms as well as to the relationship between firm productivity and firm size pervade poorly performing economies. This book sheds rich new light on these issues for Latin American and Caribbean economies and even more importantly explores the sources of such misallocation in terms of market structure, institutions and economic policies." - John Haltiwanger, Professor of Economics, University of Maryland

Autorentext

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is an international institution created in 1959 to foster economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Eduardo Cavallo is a Lead Economist at the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank, USA. Prior to re-joining the IDB, Cavallo was Vice President and Senior Latin American Economist for Goldman Sachs in New York. Eduardo had already worked at the IDB as a Research Economist between 2006 and 2010. Before that, he served as Research Fellow at the Center for International Development, Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and a member of the faculty at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government's Summer Program. In Argentina, he co-founded Fundación Grupo Innova. Cavallo has published in several academic journals and is co-editor of the IDB book, Dealing with an International Credit Crunch: Policy Responses to Sudden Stopsin Latin America. He holds a PhD in Public Policy, an MPP from Harvard University, and a BA in Economics from Universidad de San Andres in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tomás Serebrisky is Principal Economic Advisor of the Infrastructure and Environment Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), USA. Prior to joining the IDB, Serebrisky was Chief Economist of the Antitrust Commission in Argentina, Visiting Professor at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina, and Senior Economist in the World Bank, where he led the preparation and supervision of investment projects in several infrastructure sectors. His areas of expertise are the economics of infrastructure investment, public private partnerships, logistics, economic regulation, and antitrust. Serebrisky has published extensively in refereed journals and is the author of Airport Economics in Latin America: Benchmarking, Regulation and Pricing. Serebrisky holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago, USA, and a BA in Economics from Universidad de San Andres in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Inhalt
Latin America's Productivity Problem Aggregate and Sector-based Productivity Analysis; E.Fernández-Arias The Role of Firm Entry, Exit and Resource Allocation in Explaining Productivity; C.Pagés Productivity Dynamics: The Role of Innovation; J.Navarro & J.Llisterri The Role of Market and Policy Failures in Explaining Latin America Productivity Problem Uninsured Risk and Social Protection Policies; H.Ñopo Tax Policy; A.Chong Financial Market Failures and Policies; A.Galindo Macroeconomic Instability and Macroeconomic Policies; A.Izquierdo & E.Cavallo Product Market Competition Policies; M.Mesquita Innovation Policies; J.Navarro & J.Llisterri Industrial Policies; E.Fernández-Arias SME Policies; P.Ibarrán & A.Maffioli Unlocking Productivity Growth The Political Economy of Productivity; C.Scartascini & M.Tomassi How to Unlock Productivity Growth in the Region