journal article Show Journal of Latin American Studies Vol. 40, No. 3 (Aug., 2008) , pp. 545-569 (25 pages) Published By: Cambridge University Press https://www.jstor.org/stable/40056706 Abstract This essay examines three recent historical approaches to the political economy of Latin America's relative economic backwardness. All three locate the origins of contemporary underdevelopment in defective colonial institutions linked to inequality. The contrasting view offered here affirms the significance of institutional constraints, but argues that they did not arise from colonial inequalities, but from the adaptation of Iberian practices to the American colonies under conditions of imperial weakness. Colonial inequality varied across the Americas; while it was not correlated with colonial economic performance, it mattered because it determined the extent of elite resistance to institutional modernisation after independence. The onset of economic growth in the mid to late nineteenth century brought economic elites to political power, but excluding majorities as inequality increased restrained the region's twentieth-century growth rates and prevented convergence. Journal Information Journal of Latin American Studies presents recent research in the field of Latin American studies in economics, geography, politics, international relations, sociology, social anthropology, economic history and cultural history. Regular features include articles on contemporary themes, specially commissioned commentaries and an extensive section of book reviews. Instructions for Contributors at Cambridge Journals Online Publisher Information Cambridge University Press (www.cambridge.org) is the publishing division of the University of Cambridge, one of the world’s leading research institutions and winner of 81 Nobel Prizes. Cambridge University Press is committed by its charter to disseminate knowledge as widely as possible across the globe. It publishes over 2,500 books a year for distribution in more than 200 countries. Cambridge Journals publishes over 250 peer-reviewed academic journals across a wide range of subject areas, in print and online. Many of these journals are the leading academic publications in their fields and together they form one of the most valuable and comprehensive bodies of research available today. For more information, visit http://journals.cambridge.org. Rights & Usage This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. ReferencesAcemoglu, D. and Robinson, J. A. (2012). Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, New York: Crown.Google Scholar Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. and Robinson, J. (2002). ‘Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(4), 1231–1294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Arroyo Abad, L. (2014). ‘Failure to Launch: Cost of Living and Living Standards in Peru During the 19th Century’, Revista de Historia Economica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 32(1), 47–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Arroyo Abad, L. and van Zanden, J. L. (2015). ‘Optimistic but Flawed? A Reply’, Revista de historia Economica/Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 33(1), 77–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Arroyo Abad, L. and van Zanden, J. L. (2016). ‘Growth under Extractive Institutions? Latin American Per Capita Gdp in Colonialtimes’, Journal of Economic History, 76(4), 1182–1215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Arroyo Abad, L., Davies, E. and van Zanden, J. L. (2012). ‘Between Conquest and Independence: Real Wages and Demographic Change in Spanish America, 1530–1820’, Explorations in Economic History, 49(2), 149–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Assadourian, C. S. (1983). El Sistema De La Económia Colonial, Mexico: El Mercado Interior, Regiones Y Espacio Económico.Google Scholar Baskes, J. (2013). Staying Afloat : Risk and Uncertainty in Spanish Atlantic World Trade, 1760–1820, Stanford University Press.Google Scholar Bergad, L. (2007). The Comparative Histories of Slavery in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar Bértola, L. and Ocampo, J. A. (2012). The Economic Development of Latin America since Independence, Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Now, major economic activities include agriculture, industry, forestry, and mining. In 2016, four countries, which include Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and República Bolivariana de Venezuela experienced decline in output.
What is the most important economy in Latin America?Brazil and Mexico were the countries with the largest gross domestic product (GDP) in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2021. In that year, Brazil's GDP reached an estimated value of 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars, whereas Mexico's amounted to almost 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars.
What is the economic development of Latin America?After a 6.9 percent rebound in 2021, regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 3 percent in 2022, a higher rate than expected due to higher commodity prices.
Why did the economies of Latin America become export based?Besides the upsurge in international demand for Latin American primary goods, the factors fueling the rise of export economies included foreign investment and technological innovations brought from the industrializing countries.
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