ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FROM THE ECLAC- RAÚL PREBISCH APPROACH by Econografos Centro Editorial FCE

FCE

Econografos

Nº 15 Noviembre 2011

Economic development from the ECLAC - Raúl Prebisch approach: In search of welfare and life quality in Latin America Desarrollo Económico desde la CEPAL- Raúl Prebish: En búsqueda del bienestar y calidad de vida en Latinoamérica.

Óscar Andrés Espinosa Acuña y Paola Andrea Vaca González

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FROM THE ECLAC- RAÚL PREBISCH APPROACH: IN SEARCH OF WELFARE AND LIFE QUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA Por: Óscar Andrés Espinosa Acuña1 - Paola Andrea Vaca González2

Abstract This study presents an analysis of the theory of economic development, from the perspective of ECLAC and Raul Prebisch, in their search for a better standard of living for Latin America, in the context of the combination of internal and external forces whose interaction explains the structural boundaries that makes difficult the achievement of having a decent quality of life and a gradual improvement of its quality for developing countries. That is why this paper will study ways of accomplishing key objectives by considering topics such as World Trade, International Cooperation, Technical Progress and the relation between Government Market, with the aim of achieving higher standards of living among the population and consequently sustainable development in the long term that will provide better conditions of life for the developing countries.

Keywords: Economic Development, ECLAC, Raúl Prebisch, Latin America, foreign trade, international cooperation, technical progress, State - Market.

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JEL Classification: B29, O11, O14.

Economics student. Economic Sciences Faculty. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá Branch. E-mail: oaespinosaa@unal.edu.co. 2 Economics student. Economic Sciences Faculty. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá Branch. E-mail: pavacag@unal.edu.co.

FCE Econografos La Colección Econografos considera para publicación manuscritos originales de estudiantes de pregrado de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, que hayan sido propuestos, programados, producidos y evaluados en una asignatura, en un grupo de estudio o en otra instancia académica.

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Rector Moisés Wassermann Lerner Vicerrector Sede Bogotá Julio Esteban Colmenares

Facultad de Ciencias Económicas Decano Jorge Iván Bula Escobar Vicedecano Académico Juan Abel Lara Dorado

Centro de Investigaciones para El Desarrollo CID Director Jorge Armando Rodríguez Subdirector German Nova

Escuela de Economía, ni a la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, ni a la Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS ECONÓMICAS

·1952 - 2012· CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES PARA EL DESARROLLO - CID

Escuela de Economía

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FROM THE ECLAC- RAÚL PREBISCH APPROACH: IN SEARCH OF WELFARE AND LIFE QUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA3 “A real discipline of development in competitiveness, reciprocal commerce, promotion of exports, capital accumulation and State action is needed to decisively boost required transformations” (Prebisch 1970, p 268).

Introduction This research aims to analyze the possibility for structuring socio-economic development in a coherent way, studying and analyzing in detail the work of policies with reference to topics such as foreign trade, international cooperation, technical progress and the state-market relation as taken into account by Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and from one of its most important representatives, Raúl Prebisch, with the purpose of achieving high standards of living in populations and encouraging a better quality of life in Latin America. The economic evolution of the Latin American region has traditionally been subject to national as well as international factors. The intensity and direction of the effects thus generated have been multiple and diverse, depending fundamentally on internal conditions. Thus, the development process created this way is of such complexity that in the last 60 years it has suffered changes in its economic structures and institutional organization. In the global context, the refusal to consider peripheral nations in the politic and economic reforms that took place in the post-war organization of the capitalist economy would later become an element that stressed the vulnerability of the system

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We thank Orlando Gutierrez Rozo (Ph.D (c) Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Associate Professor, Economic Sciences Faculty, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Member of the International Economy Research Group –GREI-), and Stanley Malinowitz (Ph.D University of Massachusetts. Professor, Economic Sciences Faculty, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Director of the International Economy Research Group –GREI-), for the comments and suggestions on drafts of this essay. Also we thank the attendees of the Congress of "The European Society for the History of Economic Thought" (ESHET - MEXICO 2011) for their suggestions and contributions, especially to teachers Cosimo Perrotta (Director of the Centre for Economic Studies, Università of Salento - Italy) and Jose Luis Cardoso (Coordinator of the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon - Portugal).

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as a whole, creating obstacles to the economic development of the third world, and causing fragility in international economic relations. Among the main problems of the state of underdevelopment, low rates in production growth, intensification of inflationary pressures, increases in the cost of energy sources, disproportionate elevation of liquidity, exchange uncertainty, and absence of an institutional framework able to face new changing situations of great financial and speculative volatility can be found. Research in international economy, foreign trade structures and different financing methods was defined in the last six decades by ECLAC in such a way that in the decades of the 1950’s and 1960’s it would be called “financial and technological dependence” because of the restricted access to technological development in the systematization processes such as the automation of means of production for undeveloped countries; in 1970, an analytical enrichment of “dependence”, through argumentation of the role of transnational companies in peripheral economies and their productive evolution, took place.

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In its turn, in the decade of the 1990’s Latin American vulnerability would be approached as a dual problem, that is, productive and technological specialization with low dynamism in the global market (low concentration of capital and manufacturing goods in exports in relation to agricultural products) and excessive exposure to external debt with multilateral organisms, especially short term (Bielschowsky, 1998). In reference to the decade of the 2000’s, the agenda about sustainable development was studied with a multidisciplinary focus emphasizing on the possibility of having production systems that contemplate an environmental and eco-systematic character; in a world where national and international inequities are stressed, as the gaps widen as years go by.

In the 1980’s, external fragility would correspond in reality to a financial “asphyxia” caused by the pressure of the external debt in Latin American countries. This problem was caused by the cessation of payments and the placement in arrears of the agreed credit duties, which were solved by the multilateral institutions through involvement in an action plan (Washington Consensus-1990) in which fiscal expenditure was reduced and the almost absolute liberalization of the capital market occurred.

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Some key points that influenced (and still influence now) the progress of underdeveloped countries during the last 60 years and their further long term implications were: the structural imbalance in the balance of payment derived from the importation requirements in industrializing economies specialized in a few export activities and with low elasticity of demand of its exports; precisely, because of being little diversified, they will suffer permanent pressure to expand the imports beyond what they can afford based on their exports. Inflation derives from both the imbalance in the balance of payments, as well as from the rest of the insufficiencies that the industrialization process faced in little diversified economies (agricultural rigidity, energy and transport scarcity, etc.). And finally, unemployment responded to the inability of exporting activities to absorb the modern activities directed to the internal market (Bielchowsky, 1998). Based on the analytical framework by ECLAC, we believe that the solution for these problems can be found principally in the development of sustainable policies that emphasize issues in foreign trade, cooperation, technical progress, and an adequate management of the state with respect to the market.

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Two centuries of trust in the self regulating virtues of market laws have contributed also to suffocating the ethics of development, but as said once by Raúl Prebisch: “Forget that Adam Smith was an ethics professor before writing his monumental book” (The Theory of Moral Sentiments), referring also to the creation of institutions that could defend property rights and regulate the justice of a nation. Therefore, the fundamental problem of the integral development of a third world structure is the need to overcome its state of dependence, transform its structure to obtain a greater autonomous growth capability and obtain a reorientation of its economic system that allows the satisfaction of the goals of society. According to ECLAC, the current period is characterized by globalization defined as: “the growing gravitation of global reaching financial, economic, environmental, politic, social and cultural processes in those of national, regional and local character” (CEPAL, 2002, p 17), recognizing three stages that stand out during the last 130 years. The first globalization stage would refer to the years comprising 1870 to 1913, characterized by a great mobility in capital, as well as workforce, with a commercial peak founded in the diminishing of transportation costs at an external (maritime) and internal (enhancement of roads and rivers) level. This stage of globalization was interrupted by the period between WWI and WWII, and this gave origin to a period of

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international political instabilities that did not allow the disciplined and efficient exercise of economic politics aimed at the growth of national income. After 1945, a new stage in global integration began and its breaking point happened in the early 1970’s, as a consequence of the disintegration of the macroeconomic regulation regime established in 1944 in Bretton Woods, of the first oil crisis, and of the growing mobility of private capital that was intensified due to the previous phenomena and the end of the “golden age” of growth in industrialized countries. This way, the second stage of globalization, from 1945 to 1973, was characterized by a huge effort to develop international financial and commercial cooperation institutions (among them: the IMF, with the purpose of structuring monetary exchanges and financing imbalances with short term payments; and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which offered long term loans for the reconstruction and further growth of nations of the world) by the noticeable expansion of manufactures commerce in developed countries, but also by the existence of a great variety of economic organization models and a limited mobility of capital and workforce (CEPAL, 2002).

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One of the fundamental ideas of ECLAC and Raúl Prebisch about irregular development and economic relations among countries was the concept of center-periphery, explaining the particular way in which underdeveloped countries bind themselves to developed ones, where their asymmetrical structure for international relations is mainly characterized by the fact that the periphery has a high proportion of exports composed of basic products that expand slowly, and on the other hand, imports more advanced technological and capital goods with a rapidly growing demand, which leads to a deterioration in terms of exchange, causing that prices of primary goods decline more than those of goods in the industrial sector produced in developed countries (CEPAL, 1987). This is mainly due to the observable differences in terms of the productive structure and the composition of exports in peripheral countries (among

In the last quarter of the 20th century a third stage of globalization whose main characteristics are the gradual generalization of free trade, the increasing presence of transnational companies in the global scenario that function as integrated production systems, the expansion and considerable mobility of capital, the persistence of restrictions to the movement of workers, and a remarkable tendency to the homogenization of development models.

them, the Latin American countries), explained by reference to their industrialization state, their low per capita income and their slow capital accumulation.

Foreign Trade One of the aspects through which economic and therefore social conditions could be improved is foreign trade, which has been oriented by the need to make economic growth viable in terms of the supply of imported goods with an industrial origin and by the attempt to place the financing problem in manageable magnitudes. According to this, in Latin American countries the magnitude of exports is subject to the urge to equilibrate the balance of payments and its composition with the same dynamism and elasticities of demand.

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In recent years and even nowadays, Latin American foreign trade has had an absolutely asymmetric structure: exported goods are mainly those whose demand grows slowly and whose production is done through the use of a poorly qualified and paid workforce (primary, semi-manufactured, and light manufactured goods), whose prices tend to have great fluctuation through time; and on the other hand, imports are constituted by goods with high technology and innovation requirements, generating wider profit margins for developed countries than for the underdeveloped ones. This generates a contrast between both economies; developed countries, counting on an oligopolic economy, will be allowed to fix prices easily, while peripheral countries are just price takers at the moment when competition in production of export goods takes place, obtaining also lower profits. The backward state of underdeveloped countries with respect to integral development based on industrialization (mechanization of production systems) is visible in the difference from the economic and technical superiority of the centers, causing socioeconomic consequences that affect the development of peripheries in the long term. This hegemony is shown in different ways, for example in the effort the centers put on encouraging and developing their economic, political and strategic interests, having in the exercise of these interests vigorous and potential tools that can be of great help, such as financial cooperation, technological vanguard, and military force. Thus, a structure that is compatible with the internal productive organization must be built and this implies a first exigency for Latin American countries: counting on an industrial sector able to sustain the new composition of exports, since those of industrial origin

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should grow at high rates, given that this need to industrialize is forced if one considers the magnitude and nature of the internal demand implicit in a more equitable and accelerated growth (Prebisch, 2008). An open economy policy must simultaneously encourage the expansion of imports and exports, which implies the careful and cautious management of liberalization in terms of foreign exchange (availability of a strong currency) and a concordance of actions that are executed in terms of exchange rate policy with those in terms of tariff protection, and encouragement of exports in such a way that there are efficient and effective incentives in production for the internal market as well as for the global market. The industry cannot keep growing as they used to based on the impulse of importsubstitution industrialization, due to the fact that this strategy has been overexploited obtaining only partially the consolidation of the industrial base. Other solutions that allow the creation of new markets should be found, integrating the masses in a state of backwardness with their corresponding social integration. Industry should expand given that the absorption of the workforce, as previously argued by Raúl Prebisch, would invigorate the demand for agricultural products, reinforcing this way both sectors, stimulating their demand and supporting each other, spreading then their expansion to the rest of the economy (Prebisch, 2008).

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The informal economy (with a great proportion in Latin American populations) that produces scarce income, as well as the desperate behavior of labor productivities, and the deterioration of the relation of exchange prices subjacent to it, generates a

The region has not been able to solve its problem of capital accumulation in a satisfactory way; investment must be made with own resources and grow faster than consumption, not the luxury component specifically. If this is not accomplished, it will be impossible to correct economic insufficiency and the social evils that accompany it; it is not about increasing the rhythm anymore, but about attenuating the elements of instability in the system. Therefore, as economic development is essentially a sociocultural change and transformation process, a bad distribution of income and the concentration of the fruits of technical progress in the superior socio-economic levels of society is the factor that has allowed the development of a privileged consumer society in detriment of the huge masses of the population.

weakness in maintaining high accumulation rates in peripheral economies. Then, if accumulation of the surplus capital based on productive production policies contrary to unproductive expenditure (squandering of money and corruption) is taken advantage of, aggregate demand and the productive structure would have the possibility of being transformed into actions in favor of the less privileged social strata and consequently in favor of a better distribution of wealth. The weakness of the impulse to development in a good proportion of the peripheral countries is a consequence of all those internal factors that integrate in a determined social structure, besides the external factors that are likely to suffocate growth. Development requires changes in ways of producing and in the structure of economy that could not be achieved without a transformation of that social structure giving space to the forces of technical progress (Prebisch, 1970).

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Looking at the future, the developing world and Latin American countries particularly should undoubtedly pay attention to other aspects of policies in terms of basic products; it is especially necessary to achieve a greater participation by Latin America in production for external consumption of products with a high value added. A bigger processing of products to be exported with a higher level of elaboration, and a bigger participation of the developing countries in the international distribution and trade of these products, are extremely important objectives to be pursued. The social problems that currently concern society more and more everyday make constant reference to poverty in the countryside, social marginality in cities, the evident distributive disparities, and limited opportunities, which constitute some of the relevant inconveniences of Latin American countries. In Latin America it is not possible to tend only to be exporters of raw materials nor of goods produced with a cheap poorly qualified workforce, because it would not offer adequate employment to the population with middle and high skill levels. The solution to these problems particularly depends on internal policies and transformations that improve the distribution of income, overcome extreme poverty and provide greater employment. In addition, to eliminate or drastically diminish these problems a high rate in the growth of economy, higher than in the past, is required (Prebisch, 2008). The multiple policy measures that governments should apply to solve the diversity of problems they face oblige them to count on a general framework that grants them

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coherence. Indeed, the nature of these problems oblige them to apply measures whose results gradually condition development in the long term, so it is of paramount importance to build policies where stronger control over the objectives is exercised and the possibility to appreciate all the consequences is present in order to improve with the passage of time. Therefore, the study and definition of a viable policy option will require counting on an organized and adequate general framework in the long run.

International Cooperation In terms of international cooperation, it is fundamental that these policies are taken into account in both developed and developing countries, so that common denominators as well as socio-political disparities in the third world are included. It is possible to elaborate an international cooperation policy that considers similarities and differences, but to get to that point, it is necessary to start by having explicitly presented the differences that emerge from diverse situations among developed countries, in which a unity that assimilates the diversity can be built. Similarly, the understanding of social reality is of great importance, in both the acceleration of economic development as well as in the political development of Latin American countries; furthermore, the consecution and establishment of international coexistence modalities need to be different from the ones prevailing nowadays (Prebisch, 1970).

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To avoid the persistence of the negative effects of globalization that have made the social backwardness that still exists in the region more evident, particularly in education, employment and social protection (CEPAL, 2002), it is necessary to focus on issues such as international cooperation.

One of the important factors for the international cooperation to be considered relevant for the development is the concept of globalization, since under this condition the processes of an economic, political, social, and cultural character at an international level affect the national processes. It is why the design of policies should pay attention to the development of the global economy. In this aspect, globalization plays an important role in development, not only for the possibilities of social and economic progress through mechanisms of integration and cooperation, but also because national economies face the instabilities of the rest, and also the competition that can drag them back according to their capability and strength to face economic processes of a large magnitude.

International cooperation allows establishing interaction among different nations at the economic, political, and social, levels among others, with the purpose of obtaining greater growth and progress of society covering important aspects of welfare such as education, employment and social protection that allow poverty and social inequity, the equality of gender, human rights and the environment to be treated. That way, a reduction in social and economic inequity, and an improvement in the quality of life of citizens is pursued, and in that respect, better levels of research and technology must be achieved in order to influence the generation of industry, production and a sustainable development. For development in the region, it is then necessary to recognize the economic and social structure of these nations, with the purpose of applying efficient measures that improve the standard of living of each one of them and enable convergence with developed countries. For that, research and the knowledge, whose growth levels depend on education, is fundamental. According to ECLAC: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Education is, then, a requirement for people to be able to access the benefits of progress and for economies to be able to grant a sustained development through competitiveness based on a more intensive use of knowledgeâ&#x20AC;? (CEPAL, 2002, p 307).

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The advances in this aspect have not been homogeneous in the region, and this is due to the way in which nations face times of crisis and economic deceleration. Some countries in the region do not have enough resources to accurately meet the requirements of these kinds of circumstances, and this obstructs the increase in educational investment. This causes that, in the long run, the figures for research and knowledge decrease, extending the gap of national income with respect to developed nations. In terms of employment, ECLAC considers it to be the best economic link between economic and social development, since it is the main source of income of homes (CEPAL, 2002). The lack of access to employment results in poverty and social inequity that with the passing of time transforms into income accumulation. In the region, employment has been affected by the high rates of labor instability, few quality jobs and low coverage in the social protection system, generating high rates of unemployment and informality.

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To improve the indexes of employment in terms of quality as well as access to it, encouragement of industrial production is required as a model of predominantly productive organization, in which the generation of employment is related to the standards of specialization of the country. Under the globalization process, job flexibility is unavoidable. Thus, the state must make more effective use of its market regulating activity, avoiding the creation of low quality jobs, with little salary, unstable and unsafe, and also preventing the deterioration of social security and work conditions. As can be observed, in this scenario social protection is seriously affected, with social security coverage being diminished. Social protection is an important element in development because it is in charge of dealing with, controlling, and preventing bad life and health conditions of the population. That is why the state should participate actively in the development of social policies that guarantee a high quality, effective, equitable and universal service; in which the strengthening of social security and assistance are encouraged. This way, progress in human resources (increase in productivity) is pursued so it allows all actors in society to participate in the expansion and development of the different markets. Facing these three big issues (education, employment and social protection) through international cooperation and the commitment of nations to their growth and strengthening, life conditions of the most vulnerable sectors can be improved, attacking thus the high levels of poverty in the region. Taxation policies that contain good management of fiscal capacity and an adequate management of socio economic politics to face these exigencies to favor development must be created.

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In this sense, an active participation of the state together with international cooperation are needed through national and global institutions to supply and provide fundamental “global public goods” such as peace, security, justice, democracy,

For the consecution of these objectives, the construction of a new international order should be encouraged together with the commitment to effectively administer it, through the establishment of objectives in the region (CEPAL, 2002), with the aim of preventing and reducing the negative effects of globalization and then promoting social development, macroeconomic stability and efficiency of economic and environmental policies.

environmental sustainability, social security, education and macroeconomic stability; as well as the promotion and defense of human rights. The relationship between a country and the rest of the world is evident for institutional development, the development of technical knowledge and the protection of human rights, not disregarding that it is each state that, through its own national policies and its social commitments, models its development process at an initial level.

Technical Progress Another relevant focus for the development of Latin America is technical progress, since it is one of the main ways through which is possible to eliminate poverty and external vulnerability in the region in a progressive manner. This is because the agricultural and industrial structure (which depends on technological advances in the means of production) determines firmly the income distribution that, in its turn, defines the rhythm of consumption and the capability to save and invest, meaning that a greater satisfaction of basic needs results from equity in a population whose socioeconomic patterns could imprint more dynamism to the economy, and where it is also essential to plan in a convenient way the relation capital - product in the present accumulation regime (in other words, the level of intensity in the use of each productive factor) (Bielschowsky, 1998).

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Thus, the fragility of inherited industry, but not as a limitation but as a chance that the economy offers, in which its restructuring process, internal articulation and progressive strengthening are fundamental. In this sense, rising investment, depending less on exports and basic products and avoiding inflation need to be set as goals, in sum, to achieve a maximum level of welfare with equal opportunities for everyone, in democratic societies, putting the benefits of technical progress in the hands of all the economic and social sectors by the use of a fairer distribution of national income (Prebisch, 1970). Thus, when taking into account that economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition for economic development, especially in developing countries (where a sustainable and efficient political, educational, cultural system is vital), economic growth should be intimately linked to the structural context, constituted by the productive-technological apparatus, the configuration of markets of real goods and the proper financial functioning of capitals. (Prebisch, 1970).

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It is necessary to mention the systematic character of technical progress which includes an entire network of relationships among productive agents and the physical and educational infrastructure, highlighting the qualification of human resources as a decisive method to generate long term productive evolution, together with policies in research and science that allow technological innovation. This way, industry has to remain as the axis of productive transformation, giving importance to its articulations with primary and services activities. Therefore, science and technology can associate with the establishment of social purposes, and with a deeper understanding of human relations, as well as of environment and the processes by means of which it is transformed. (CEPAL, 1987).

State-Market Relation By demanding the development of enormous political decisions, ECLAC and Raul Prebisch’s theories allow us to face the formidable challenge of renewing the different conceptions of economy, linking them to interpretations that comprehend social structure and its mutations in the theory of economic development. These theories give us the faculty of harmonizing the role of the state and planning, with that of the functioning of market, corresponding to the former the function of orientating the system in such a way that it is able to give some priority central objectives with the passing of time.

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Individual action (private interest), notwithstanding its importance, cannot change the limited dynamics of an unproductive consumer society, neither it can change the dependence relation between the center and the periphery. It is then necessary to obtain connected solutions and political decisions in the center as well as in the periphery to get a coordinated development with no structural obstacles. Taking that into account, inherent structural changes require obtaining an adequate relation

The execution of a development plan is not compatible with the market mechanism, being the latter an efficient resource allocator with the help of the state, in a way that it is the state that has to act consciously to accelerate development and correct the failures of the market, giving it a strong social sense (Prebisch, 1964). This group of systems would contribute to progress in social welfare and an authentic determination in the manner in which to implement the transformation that Latin America needs.

between agriculture and industry, reducing external vulnerability and an adequate governmental policy and infrastructure to accelerate economic growth (CEPAL, 1987). It is also necessary at the moment of economic planning that schemes where the sequence of activities to be executed and the execution time are defined are established, as well as the procedures to be developed and all those events that can be involved in the achievement of these so that it is possible to harmonize the decisions of the state with the functioning of the market. Thus, it is fundamental to plan economic projects in the short, medium and long run since they can promote the development of a country in a healthier way and achieve the established goals, and at the same time reduce to a minimum the risks and uncertainty that can result at the moment when destabilizations occur in the fiscal macroeconomic, monetary or exchange equilibrium, and also, optimize the use of limited resources (income from taxation in the case of the state in the maximization of public expenditure profitability). The state has to take part in a reflexive way to encourage individual and industrial development, or increase its own savings through the taxation system, either to invest directly or to channel it to private sector initiative; it is then indispensable for the state to intervene in order to raise the investment coefficient, encourage human capital accumulation and allow greater savings to lead to a better use of the workforce in productive activities (Prebisch, 1964).

Conclusion

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Analyzing all these issues, it can be argued as a conclusion that economic development depends a lot on policies exercised in the fields of foreign trade, international cooperation, and technical progress, where the margin for maneuver for the application of any type of strategy will obviously depend on the characteristics of each country, including the size and level of development of its economy, the way in which it has traditionally adopted its external economic relations, its geographical location and institutional and social development. It is now a priority to lead economies through the path of equilibrated and sustainable economic development, in which they can count on greater relative support in the internal framework, possess a certain grade of industrial conglomeration, use

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economies of scale, count on elemental but their own scientific and technical development, possess a certain level of social development, be supported by a well established institutional and financial system, develop external economic relations with stable markets for a prolonged period and have certain power of negotiation with respect to third parties. A Latin American nation with these characteristics will have a superior margin of maneuver with respect to a less developed country, which does not have these conditions and has the need to specialize its economy in relation to its geographical location, natural resources or abundance of a poorly qualified workforce, and whose external economic relations are currently concentrated and thus vulnerable. It is also very important to take into account that the environmental management of all countries faces a challenge for present and future generations. Therefore, both plans to adopt governmental responsibility schemes and mechanisms for public information will have to be revised constantly with appropriate accomplishment and performance indicators to have a rigorous and exemplifying control of the current situation in all important aspects for the generation of greater welfare in Latin American nations. And finally, it can be stated that, as Raúl Prebisch asserted, “the obstacles opposing this effort to develop are considerable” (Prebisch, 1964); however, with the help of efficient and committed policies, it will be possible to achieve an expansion of technical change, and thus an increase in productivity and income per capita in developing countries, as well as an equitable tenancy of the land, the strengthening of the educational system, the avoidance of unproductive consumption of economic surplus by the groups with the highest incomes, and the further effective social investment, all this with the essential aim of increasing welfare and quality of life in Latin American nations.

Bielschowsky, Ricardo. (1998). “Evolución de las ideas de la CEPAL”. Revista de la CEPAL. Número Extraordinario, Octubre. p 17-45.

[2]

Bielschowsky, Ricardo. (2009). “Sesenta años de la CEPAL: estructuralismo y neoestructuralismo”. Revista de la CEPAL. Nº 97, Abril. p 173-194.

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Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Bogotá - Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

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Informe del Secretario General de la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Comercio y Desarrollo. México D.F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica. 148 p. [6]

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