in all forms of cooperation

In accordance with this multidimensional perspective, the governance and financing approach of cooperation must play a facilitating role and be multilevel in nature, encompassing South-South cooperation, triangular cooperation and horizontal cooperation, both between different levels of government and between these and private and civil society organizations. Along with new metrics, new tools are needed to implement development cooperation at the operational level so that it can be adapted to the new global and regional contexts, while building on the effectiveness of existing tools.

E. The structural gaps approach: a tool for measuring and finding better indicators than per capita GDP and ensuring that middle-income countries are included in all forms of cooperation

The structural gaps approach, as noted above, provides an alternative to per capita GDP as a way of measuring inequalities in development processes and reformulating international cooperation to ensure that countries in transition to development are included in all forms of cooperation. This approach is based on two premises. The first is that it is necessary to measure the different dimensions of development (economic, social, environmental, institutional, financial, etc.), and the second is that there is no single classification or criterion that fits all countries. This approach makes it possible to sort a heterogeneous sample of countries into a few groups for each dimension of development, with each group being homogeneous to a certain extent because of the similarities between the countries that make it up. In short, different gaps translate into different classifications, and grouping countries by per capita income is just one possible classification. The classification that uses the income gap to determine country groups has an implicit weighting that assigns a fundamental importance to this gap. Thus, a development strategy that treats the income gap as central assigns a secondary importance to all other gaps.

In general, each gap is measured against the value of the relevant variable in the country considered to be the best performer in each dimension of development at the global level. The great diversity of gaps implies the possibility of different rankings. The relevance of each gap varies from country to country; while some gaps may be highly relevant for one country, they may be less so for others. A development strategy that considers only the income gap subordinates all other gaps and places them on a secondary level or implicitly assumes that income differences explain differences in all other dimensions. Each country must therefore identify the areas in which it has the greatest needs and the main challenges in order to determine the priority areas for action, the corresponding public policies and the scope of international cooperation. Thus, the gaps approach is more than an analytical perspective; it is an instrument for directing and coordinating cooperation based on recognition of the sovereignty of the recipient country, the interests of donors and the multidimensional scope of development. It is an instrument for action.

Table I.2 illustrates an application of the gaps approach in the countries of the region based on five indicators: per capita GDP, personal income tax revenue as a share of GDP, seats held by women in national parliaments as a percentage of total seats, the percentage of fixed broadband subscriptions and the Gini index.

Table I.2 Latin America and the Caribbean: ranking of countries by different gaps relative to a reference country

Variable/ Group Income gap Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) Fiscal gap Personal income tax receipts as a percentage of GDP Gender gap Percentage of women in parliament Digital gap Percentage of fixed broadband subscribers Social gap Gini index

Group I Bahamas Saint Kitts and Nevis Barbados Trinidad and Tobago Chile Uruguay Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Cuba Mexico Guyana Jamaica

Group II Brazil Panama Argentina Mexico Costa Rica Saint Lucia Grenada El Salvador Brazil Belize Saint Lucia Argentina Honduras Peru

Group III Suriname Colombia Dominican Republic Dominica Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Cuba Peru Panama Nicaragua Chile Costa Rica Dominican Republic Colombia Guatemala Cuba Nicaragua Mexico Grenada Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Costa Rica Argentina Ecuador Guyana Honduras Dominica El Salvador Suriname Jamaica

Dominican Republic Peru Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Chile Panama Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Saint Kitts and Nevis Barbados Uruguay Bahamas Trinidad and Tobago Grenada Dominica

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Argentina Saint Lucia Chile Costa Rica Brazil Mexico Colombia Suriname Panama Antigua and Barbuda Ecuador Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Jamaica Cuba Uruguay Argentina El Salvador Peru Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Dominican Republic Chile Ecuador Paraguay Mexico Honduras Costa Rica Nicaragua

Panama Colombia Guatemala Brazil

Group IV Guyana Ecuador Paraguay Jamaica Belize El Salvador Paraguay Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Ecuador Barbados Guatemala Colombia Saint Lucia Brazil Paraguay

Group V Guatemala Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Honduras Nicaragua Haiti Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Bahamas Belize Antigua and Barbuda Haiti Dominican Republic Guyana Peru El Salvador Belize Paraguay Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Cuba Haiti

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Note: The countries in group I are those with the smallest gaps, while those in group V are furthest behind the reference country in the area considered. With the exception of the Gini coefficient, gaps were calculated as the difference between the average value of each indicator in the period 2014–2019 for each country in Latin America and the Caribbean with information available and the average value in the same period for the country with the best performance on each indicator. In the case of the Gini index, the data for 2018 or the latest year with information available were analysed.