Crecimiento economico en America Latina: Evidencias desde una perspectiva Kaldoriana[Economic growth in Latin America: Evidence from a Kaldorian perspective]

This paper analyzes an alternative theoretical framework in qualifying concrete growth phenomenon in Latin American region, based on the Kaldorian idea of cumulative causation. The latter is developed through two substantial mechanisms: a causal link between demand constraint and production growth, due to exportation dynamics, and a process of interaction between growth of production and growth of productivity, known as the “Kaldor-Verdoorn” law. The kaldorian growth model has been empirically tested for 16 economies over the period 1961 to 2005, with the adoption of the panel data approach. This yields findings quite conclusive insofar as positive correlations and expected values of parameters are corroborating both mechanisms. Moreover, the Granger procedure suggests bidirectional causality between growth of productivity and expansion of output. These results seem to be robust enough to make us believe that the Kaldorian growth model is appropriate in characterizing Latin American growth while cumulative causation appears to play a significant role in the region.