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Latin American Trade Strategy at Century's End

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Carol Wise
Carol Wise*
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University
*
Johns Hopkins University, 1740 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036–1984, USA. Tel: (202) 663–5729; E-mail: cwise@mail.jhuwash.jhu.edu
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Abstract

This paper tackles the question of trade strategy and differential economic performance in Latin America, with a focus on the four countries—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico—most important for the successful completion of a full Western Hemispheric integration scheme. The analysis distinguishes between a ‘standard’ market strategy that assigns the task of economic adjustment to market forces, and a ‘competitive’ strategy that more actively employs a range of public policies to facilitate adjustment and correct for instances of market failure. The choices of strategy are explored against the backdrop of international pressures, government business relations, and institutional reform within the state. Two main conclusions are drawn: first, the competitive strategy strongly correlates with more favorable macro- and microeconomic outcomes and, second, mediocre economic performance under a standard market strategy has undermined the spirit of collective action that will be necessary to forge ahead at the hemispheric level.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , August 1999 , pp. 117 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 1999 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

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