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The Economic Commission for Latin America and the 1950s' Debate on Choice of Techniques

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  • Mauro Boianovsky

Abstract

The paper investigates how the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL) fits into the 1950s' international debate about investment criteria and choice of techniques in development planning. In some of their documents, CEPAL economists expressed a preference for projects with low capital-labour ratios, in line with the conclusions of A.E. Kahn and Hollis Chenery's 'social marginal productivity' of capital criterion for investment in countries relatively short of capital. However, one may also find CEPAL economists proposing an increasing participation of heavy industries in total investment during the acceleration phase of economic growth, an approach that was supported by Maurice Dobb's and Amartya Sen's argument for capital-intensive projects. This double perspective is explained by the distinction between static and dynamic scenarios in CEPAL's framework, which sheds new light on the treatment of capital accumulation and technology as part of import-substituting industrialization policy in underdeveloped areas.

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  • Mauro Boianovsky, 2013. "The Economic Commission for Latin America and the 1950s' Debate on Choice of Techniques," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 373-398, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:25:y:2013:i:3:p:373-398
    DOI: 10.1080/09538259.2013.775827
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    1. Marglin, Stephen A., 1976. "Value and Price in the Labour-Surplus Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198281948, Decembrie.
    2. Prebisch, Raúl, 1950. "The economic development of Latin America and its principal problems," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 29973, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
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