Trade, Direct Investment and Production Policies

Date
Nov 2005
This paper discusses the series of far-reaching structural reforms that took place in the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean during the 1990's. This set of reforms generated increases in foreign trade (particularly exports) and higher foreign direct investment. However, the growth path of the region's countries is a far cry from one of intensive, steady expansion. This document analyses possible reasons for this and posits that there is no unequivocally positive link between trade openness and economic growth, given the importance of the context and how the process of liberalization is carried out.