IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wboper/41230.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Review, April 2024 - Competition: The Missing Ingredient for Growth?
[Informe Económico América Latina y el Caribe, Abril 2024: Competencia: ¿el ingrediente que falta para crecer?]

Author

Listed:
  • William Maloney
  • Pablo Garriga
  • Marcela Meléndez
  • Raúl Morales
  • Charl Jooste
  • James Sampi
  • Jorge Thompson Araujo
  • Ekaterina Vostroknutova

Abstract

Latin America and the Caribbean has made slow but consistent progress addressing the imbalances induced by the pandemic in an international environment that is just now showing signs of stabilizing. Despite favorable macroeconomic management, high interest rates and fiscal imbalances remain challenging while growth rates remain lackluster due to long-standing structural issues. Looking forward, an aging workforce and rising violence will increasingly complicate policy. This report focuses particularly on weak competitive forces as a source of low productivity, low growth, and low welfare in LAC. It emphasizes the need for effective competition institutions, pro-competition regulatory frameworks, complementary policies to improve the capabilities of workers and firms, and enhanced innovation systems, to prepare local industries to reach the technological frontier and face global competition. Furthermore, the report underscores the need for reforms to prevent large businesses from exerting undue political influence over policy decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • William Maloney & Pablo Garriga & Marcela Meléndez & Raúl Morales & Charl Jooste & James Sampi & Jorge Thompson Araujo & Ekaterina Vostroknutova, "undated". "Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Review, April 2024 - Competition: The Missing Ingredient for Growth? [Informe Económico América Latina y el Caribe, Abril 2024: Competencia: ¿el ingrediente," World Bank Publications - Reports 41230, The World Bank Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wboper:41230
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstreams/184bce21-8fec-4b14-acad-9ee256e7db93/download
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matias Busso & Sebastian Galiani, 2019. "The Causal Effect of Competition on Prices and Quality: Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 33-56, January.
    2. Nicholas Bloom & Mirko Draca & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Trade Induced Technical Change? The Impact of Chinese Imports on Innovation, IT and Productivity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 87-117.
    3. David Atkin & Benjamin Faber & Marco Gonzalez-Navarro, 2018. "Retail Globalization and Household Welfare: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(1), pages 1-73.
    4. Nina Pavcnik, 2002. "Trade Liberalization, Exit, and Productivity Improvements: Evidence from Chilean Plants," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(1), pages 245-276.
    5. Steven Berry & Martin Gaynor & Fiona Scott Morton, 2019. "Do Increasing Markups Matter? Lessons from Empirical Industrial Organization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 44-68, Summer.
    6. Fernandes, Ana M., 2007. "Trade policy, trade volumes and plant-level productivity in Colombian manufacturing industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 52-71, March.
    7. Daniel Lederman & Marcelo Olarreaga & Eliana Rubiano, 2008. "Trade Specialization in Latin America: The Impact of China and India," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(2), pages 248-271, July.
    8. Bittlingmayer, George, 1993. "The Stock Market and Early Antitrust Enforcement," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 1-32, April.
    9. Pinelopi K Goldberg & Amit K Khandelwal & Nina Pavcnik & Petia Topalova, 2010. "Multiproduct Firms and Product Turnover in the Developing World: Evidence from India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 1042-1049, November.
    10. Eric Verhoogen, 2023. "Firm-Level Upgrading in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1410-1464, December.
    11. Jonathan B. Baker, 2003. "The Case for Antitrust Enforcement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(4), pages 27-50, Fall.
    12. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    13. Benjamin E. Hermalin, 1992. "The Effects of Competition on Executive Behavior," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 23(3), pages 350-365, Autumn.
    14. Ana Paula Cusolito & Alvaro Garcia-Marin & William F. Maloney, 2023. "Proximity to the Frontier, Markups, and the Response of Innovation to Foreign Competition: Evidence from Matched Production-Innovation Surveys in Chile," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 35-54, March.
    15. Mion, Giordano & Zhu, Linke, 2013. "Import competition from and offshoring to China: A curse or blessing for firms?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 202-215.
    16. Bernard, Andrew B. & Jensen, J. Bradford & Schott, Peter K., 2006. "Survival of the best fit: Exposure to low-wage countries and the (uneven) growth of U.S. manufacturing plants," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 219-237, January.
    17. Schor, Adriana, 2004. "Heterogeneous productivity response to tariff reduction. Evidence from Brazilian manufacturing firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 373-396, December.
    18. Philippe Aghion & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt & Susanne Prantl, 2009. "The Effects of Entry on Incumbent Innovation and Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 20-32, February.
    19. Maloney, William F. & Sarrias, Mauricio, 2017. "Convergence to the managerial frontier," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 284-306.
    20. Eckel, Carsten & Iacovone, Leonardo & Javorcik, Beata & Neary, J. Peter, 2015. "Multi-product firms at home and away: Cost- versus quality-based competence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 216-232.
    21. Paula Bustos, 2011. "Trade Liberalization, Exports, and Technology Upgrading: Evidence on the Impact of MERCOSUR on Argentinian Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(1), pages 304-340, February.
    22. Runjuan Liu, 2010. "Import competition and firm refocusing," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 440-466, May.
    23. David Scharfstein, 1988. "Product-Market Competition and Managerial Slack," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(1), pages 147-155, Spring.
    24. Mary Amiti & Jozef Konings, 2007. "Trade Liberalization, Intermediate Inputs, and Productivity: Evidence from Indonesia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1611-1638, December.
    25. Hallak, Juan Carlos, 2006. "Product quality and the direction of trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 238-265, January.
    26. Ana M. Fernandes & Caroline Paunov, 2013. "Does trade stimulate product quality upgrading?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1232-1264, November.
    27. Loreto Lira & Rosario Rivero & Rodrigo Vergara, 2007. "Entry and Prices: Evidence from the Supermarket Sector," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 31(4), pages 237-260, December.
    28. Posner, Richard A, 1975. "The Social Costs of Monopoly and Regulation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(4), pages 807-827, August.
    29. Mario D. Tello & Cristina J. Tello-Trillo, 2023. "Preferential Trade Agreements and Productivity: Evidencefrom Peru," Revista Economía, Fondo Editorial - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, vol. 46(91), pages 22-38.
    30. Tomaso Duso & Damien J. Neven & Lars-Hendrik Röller, 2007. "The Political Economy of European Merger Control: Evidence using Stock Market Data," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(3), pages 455-489.
    31. Petia Topalova & Amit Khandelwal, 2011. "Trade Liberalization and Firm Productivity: The Case of India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 995-1009, August.
    32. Iacovone, Leonardo & Javorcik, Beata & Keller, Wolfgang & Tybout, James, 2015. "Supplier responses to Walmart's invasion in Mexico," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 1-15.
    33. Oliver D. Hart, 1983. "The Market Mechanism as an Incentive Scheme," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 366-382, Autumn.
    34. Robert W. Crandall & Clifford Winston, 2005. "Does antitrust policy improve consumer welfare? Assessing the evidence," Chapters, in: Colin Robinson (ed.), Governments, Competition and Utility Regulation, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    35. Iacovone, Leonardo, 2012. "The better you are the stronger it makes you: Evidence on the asymmetric impact of liberalization," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 474-485.
    36. Sutton, John, 2012. "Competing in Capabilities: The Globalization Process," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199274536.
    37. Adriana Schor, 2004. "Heterogeneous Productivity Response to Tariff Reduction: Evidence from Brazilian Manufacturing Firms," NBER Working Papers 10544, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    38. Runjuan Liu, 2010. "Import competition and firm refocusing," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 43(2), pages 440-466, May.
    39. Aaron Barkley, 2023. "The Human Cost of Collusion: Health Effects of a Mexican Insulin Cartel," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(5), pages 1865-1904.
    40. Krishna, Pravin & Mitra, Devashish, 1998. "Trade liberalization, market discipline and productivity growth: new evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 447-462, August.
    41. Santiago Levy & Michael Walton, 2009. "No Growth without Equity? Inequality, Interests, and Competition in Mexico," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13263.
    42. Rodríguez-Clare, Andrés & Devlin, Robert & Estevadeordal, Antoni, 2006. "The Emergence of China: Opportunities and Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 421, December.
    43. Maggi, Giovanni, 1996. "Strategic Trade Policies with Endogenous Mode of Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 237-258, March.
    44. Shapiro, Carl, 2018. "Antitrust in a time of populism," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 714-748.
    45. de Souza, Gustavo, 2022. "The Labor Market Consequences of Appropriate Technology," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2208, CEPREMAP.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pian Shu & Claudia Steinwender, 2019. "The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Firm Productivity and Innovation," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 39-68.
    2. Chen, Cheng & Steinwender, Claudia, 2021. "Import competition, heterogeneous preferences of managers, and productivity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Iacovone, Leonardo & Rauch, Ferdinand & Winters, L. Alan, 2013. "Trade as an engine of creative destruction: Mexican experience with Chinese competition," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 379-392.
    4. Bas, Maria & Paunov, Caroline, 2021. "Disentangling trade reform impacts on firm market and production decisions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    5. Bas, M. & Paunov, C., 2014. "The unequal effect of India's industrial liberalization on firms' decision to innovate: Do business conditions matter?," MERIT Working Papers 2014-044, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    6. Sai Ding & Puyang Sun & Wei Jiang, 2016. "The Effect of Import Competition on Firm Productivity and Innovation: Does the Distance to Technology Frontier Matter?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 78(2), pages 197-227, April.
    7. Ghani,Syed Ejaz & Grover,Arti & Kerr,Sari & Kerr,William Robert, 2016. "Will market competition trump gender discrimination in India ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7814, The World Bank.
    8. Daniela Maggioni, 2013. "Productivity Dispersion and its Determinants: The Role of Import Penetration," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 537-561, December.
    9. Maria Bas & Caroline Paunov, 2019. "What gains and distributional implications result from trade liberalization," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 19003, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    10. Chen, Cheng, 2019. "Trade liberalization, agency problem and aggregate productivity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 421-442.
    11. Christian Darko & Giovanni Occhiali & Enrico Vanino, 2021. "The Chinese are Here: Import Penetration and Firm Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(12), pages 2112-2135, December.
    12. Ruiyang Hu & Chen Yin & Zhijie Zheng & Sili Zhou, 2024. "Unlocking Innovation: The Impact of Free Trade Zones on Corporate Innovation in China," Working Papers 202414, University of Macau, Faculty of Business Administration.
    13. Olivier Cadot & Céline Carrère & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2013. "Trade Diversification, Income, And Growth: What Do We Know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 790-812, September.
    14. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2014. "Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm-level evidence from France," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(2), pages 241-275, May.
    15. Hansen, Thorsten, 2010. "Tariff Rates, Offshoring and Productivity: Evidence from German and Austrian Firm-Level Data," Discussion Papers in Economics 11465, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    16. Maria Bas & Ivan Ledezma, 2015. "Trade Liberalization and Heterogeneous Technology Investments," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 738-781, September.
    17. Ayuma Ken Kikkawa & Yuan Mei & Pablo Robles Santamarina & Ken Kikkawa, 2019. "The Impact of NAFTA on Prices and Competition: Evidence from Mexican Manufacturing Plants," CESifo Working Paper Series 7700, CESifo.
    18. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6ggbvnr6munghes9oc1hggs11 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Bas, Maria & Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa, 2015. "Input-trade liberalization, export prices and quality upgrading," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 250-262.
    20. Albert Guangzhou Hu & Zhengning Liu, 2014. "Trade Liberalization and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Industries," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 488-512, August.
    21. Iacovone, Leonardo, 2012. "The better you are the stronger it makes you: Evidence on the asymmetric impact of liberalization," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 474-485.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wboper:41230. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tal Ayalon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.