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dc.titleThe Productivity Gap in Latin America: Lessons from 50 Years of Development
dc.contributor.authorRodríguez-Apolinar, Sergio
dc.contributor.authorFernández-Arias, Eduardo
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coverageThe Caribbean
dc.coverageLatin America
dc.date.available2016-05-06T00:00:00
dc.date.issue2016-05-05T00:00:00
dc.description.abstractThis paper combines development accounting exercises with economic theory to assess the importance of total factor productivity and the accumulation of factors of production as engines of growth in Latin America. Using the new, drastically revised Penn World Table (PWT) and Barro-Lee datasets, the paper shows that lower and non-convergent income relative to successful development benchmarks are explained by subpar productivity gains rather than slower factor accumulation. The empirical analysis of the interplay between productivity and accumulation in the process of development suggests that one explanation for this pattern is that investment in Latin America is not as productivity-enhancing as in less distorted economies.
dc.format.extent48
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0011731
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/The-Productivity-Gap-in-Latin-America-Lessons-from-50-Years-of-Development.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.mediumAdobe PDF
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectProductivity Growth
dc.subjectEconomic Policy
dc.subjectEconomic Development
dc.subjectIndustrial Policy
dc.subjectHigh-Productivity
dc.subjectProductivity Gap
dc.subjectPrivate Investment
dc.subjectProductive Development Policy
dc.subject.jelcodeO11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
dc.subject.jelcodeO47 - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth • Aggregate Productivity • Cross-Country Output Convergence
dc.subject.keywordsinvestment;productivity gap
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberWorking Papers
idb.operationRG-K1418
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