Growth, Employment, and Poverty in Latin America

Abstract

and started work in Helsinki, Finland, in 1985. The mandate of the institute is to undertake applied research and policy analysis on structural changes affecting developing and transitional economies, to provide a forum for the advocacy of policies leading to robust, equitable, and environmentally sustainable growth, and to promote capacity strengthening and training in the field of economic and social policymaking. Its work is carried out by staff researchers and visiting scholars in Helsinki and via networks of collaborating scholars and institutions around the world. It is permitted to reuse, share and adapt this work, subject to the following terms:Attribution -appropriate credit is given to the original work, the copyright holder and creator, and any changes made to the work are properly indicated.Non-Commercial -the work, or any adaptation of the work, may not be used, distributed or reproduced in any format, by any means, for commercial purposes.Share-Alike -the work, or any adaptation of the work is distributed under the same licence terms as the original, with a URL link provided to the licence.Enquiries concerning use outside the terms of the Creative Commons licence should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the above address or to academic.permissions@oup.com. Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work.Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY ForewordThe motivation behind this piece of research was cemented during a meeting attended by Professor Gary Fields-one of the co-editors of this book-and myself in mid-2013 where we discussed in depth the linkages between economic growth, changing employment conditions, and the reduction of poverty. Gary has been working on the frontier of our profession on employment and development issues all of his academic career, and he pointed to new inroads and data to be explored within the growth-employment-poverty nexus, focusing on Latin America.At the time of our exploratory discussions the target date for completion of the UN Millennium Development Goals was looming, with the number one goal-to halve between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of people living on less than 1 dollar a day-having already been achieved. The new Post-2015 Development Agenda, since adopted, was under intense debate. Leading the charge among the Sustainable Development Goals is the aim to end poverty in all its forms everywhere, followed closely by the SDG to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. Thus the proposed research could not have been more timely for the international agenda. And more so as UNU-WIDER was then launching a new research programme-focusing on the three development challenges of transformation, inclusion, and sustainability-wherein work on the growthemployment-poverty nexus was a straightforward fit....

The Jobs of Tomorrow: Technology, Productivity, and Prosperity in Latin America and the Caribbean

“…According to their analysis, only Chile shows possible job polarization. They find no evidence of wage polarization in any of the other Latin American countries, perhaps suggesting that any impacts produced by ICT adoption could have been overcome by the strong commodity boom experienced by most economies during the 2000s, which benefited primarily low-skilled workers (Cruces et al 2015;Maloney and Molina 2016). In addition, there is evidence of a wage premium associated with the use of computers at the workplace between 2000 and 2006 (Benavente, Bravo, and Montero 2011).…”

Job quality and poverty in Latin America

“…The role of rising labor income stands out, among other factors contributing to these achievements, as a key channel of transmission between growth and social gains. Indeed, income from labor has been a central element in the reduction of poverty (Cruces et al., ). For instance, Rodríguez‐Castelan et al.…”

Educational diversity, organizational structure and innovation performance: Evidence from Uruguayan industry

“…High employment rates characterised the Uruguayan labour market during the period considered in this study. Moreover, the share of low-skilled employment fell in the Uruguayan economy while professional and technical employment grew (Cruces et al, 2017). However, labour supply constraints nevertheless appeared as a potential restriction to the economic growth trend (Perazzo, 2012).…”