Towards Sustainable Development in Central America and the Caribbean

244 Pages·2001·0.886 MB·English

by  Anders Danielson, A. Geske Dijkstra (eds.)

Towards Sustainable
Development in Central
America and the Caribbean
Edited by
Anders Danielson and A. Geske Dijkstra
Towards Sustainable Development in Central America
and the Caribbean
Also by Anders Danielson
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEVELOPMENT
THE ECONOMIC SURPLUS
Also by A. Geske Dijkstra
GENDER AND ECONOMICS:A European Perspective
Towards Sustainable
Development in
Central America
and the Caribbean
Edited by
Anders Danielson
Associate Professor
Department of Economics
University of Lund
Sweden
and
A. Geske Dijkstra
Senior Lecturer in Economics
Faculty of Social Sciences
Erasmus University
Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Editorial matter,selection and Chapter 1 © Anders Danielson
and A.Geske Dijkstra 2001
Chapter 2 © Anders Danielson 2001
Chapter 6 © A.Geske Dijkstra 2001
Chapters 3–5,7–9 © Palgrave Publishers Ltd 2001
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2001 978-0-333-79337-4
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Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2001 by
PALGRAVE
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175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVEis the new global academic imprint of
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Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd).
ISBN 978-1-349-41975-3 ISBN 978-0-230-50212-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230502123
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A catalogue record for this book is available
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Towards sustainable development in Central America and
the Caribbean / edited by Anders Danielson,A.Geske Dijkstra.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Sustainable development—Central America.2.Sustainable
development—Central America.I.Danielson,Anders,1957–
II.Dijkstra,A.Geske.
HC141.Z9 E58 2001
338.9728’07—dc21
2001032719
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
Contents
List of Tables vii
List of Figures x
Preface xi
Notes on the Contributors xii
List of Abbreviations xiv
1 Towards Sustainability in Central America and the
Caribbean: Introduction and Overview
A. Geske Dijkstra and Anders Danielson 1
2 Fiscal Sustainability in the CAC Region
Anders Danielson 12
3 The Fruits of Interest: Financial Liberalization and
Banking in Central America 30
Trevor Evans
4 Trade Reform in Central America and the Caribbean:
Will Liberalization Resolve the Problem of Structural
Imbalances? 57
Rebecca Taylor and Andy Thorpe
5 Economic Reform, Citizenship and Social Integration
in Central America 88
Carlos Sojo
6 Crisis, Adjustment and the Dynamics of Gender
Relations in Central America and the Caribbean 114
A. Geske Dijkstra
7 Economic Policy and the Environment: Structural
Adjustment and Prospects for Sustainable Natural
Resource Management in Central America 140
Ruerd Ruben
v
vi Contents
8 Sustained Growth in Haiti: Pipe-Dream or
Realistic Possibility? 161
Mats Lundahl
9 The Performance of the Manufacturing Industry
under Adjustment: The Case of Trinidad & Tobago 192
Philomen Harrison
Index 221
List of Tables
1.1 Growth and fluctuations of income 3
1.2 Indicators of economic well-being 4
1.3 Agricultural production and export, index 5
2.1 Macroeconomic indicators for Central American
countries, annual averages 18
2.2 Macroeconomic indicators for Caribbean countries,
annual averages 19
2.3 Fiscal sustainability indicators for Central American
countries, annual averages, per cent of GDP 22
2.4 Fiscal sustainability indicators for Caribbean
countries, annual averages, per cent of GDP 23
2.5 Debt indicators: Central America 25
2.6 Debt indicators: Caribbean 26
3.1 Indicators of financial institutions in
Central America, 1995 37
3.2 Liberalization of interest rates 40
3.3 Real rates of interest in Central America, 1990–96 41
3.4 Reserve requirements on current accounts in
national currency 42
3.5 Bank interest-rate spreads in Central America, 1990–96 43
3.6 Liquidity (M2) as percentage of GDP 45
3.7 Gross saving as percentage of GDP 46
3.8 Gross investment in fixed capital as percentage of GDP 48
3.9 Credit extended by banks in Central America, 1990–95 49
4.1 Commencement of trade liberalization reforms in
Central America and the Caribbean 62
4.2 Exchange rate controls and restrictions in
Central America and the Caribbean, 1979 and 1995 64
4.3 Tariffs and non-tariff restrictions in Central America
and the Caribbean, 1995 67
4.4 Pre- and post-trade reform performance of the
Central American and Caribbean economies 72
4.5 Structure of Costa Rican exports, 1970–96 74
4.6 Structure of Guatemalan exports, 1970–96 76
4.7 Structure of Jamaican exports, 1970–95 79
4.8 Intra-regional exports as per cent of total exports, 1985–95 80
vii
viii List of Tables
5.1 Costa Rica: GDP composition by sector, constant prices 91
5.2 Honduras: GDP composition by sector, constant prices 92
5.3 Nicaragua: GDP composition by sector, constant prices 93
5.4 Central America: poverty and levels of vulnerability 96
5.5 Economically active population (EAP) by sector 99
5.6 Employment by sector 102
5.7 Percentage growth of average monthly income by sector 103
5.8 Levels of inclusion–exclusion based on type of
employment 105
5.9 Structure of inclusion–exclusion, per cent of economically
active population 106
6.1 General indicators, Central America and the Caribbean 118
6.2 Urbanization, contraceptive use and fertility indicators 121
6.3 Female share in parliament 122
6.4 Social indicators: relative female/male achievements 123
6.5 Maternal mortality rates 124
6.6 Relative female/male economic activity rate and
occupational segregation index 125
6.7 Improvements in indicators between 1980 and 1990,
by country 129
6.8 Relative female/male hourly wages in urban formal
and urban informal sector, Central America 131
7.1 Central America: degradation of natural resources 143
7.2 Agrarian structure, land resources and agricultural yields 145
7.3 Relative price changes 1980–90 147
7.4 Economic policies and environmental effects 150
7.5 Simulated farm household responses to policy
instruments 153
9.1 Selected adjustment policies as they impact on
private investment 197
9.2 Selected relative prices, period averages, 1966–98 202
9.3 Growth rates, period averages 204
9.4 Savings and investment as per cent of GDP 205
9.5 Debt ratios, monetary variables, fiscal and
current account deficits 206
9.6 Industry contribution to GDP 207
9.7 Selected indicators: food processing/drink/tobacco
industry 208
9.8 Selected indicators: textiles, garments and related
industry 209
List of Tables ix
9.9 Selected indicators: assembly and related industry 209
9.10 Real lending rate, real exchange rate index, and
changes in the real exchange rate, 1983–94 210
9.11 Profit to sales and investment to total
assets by employment size and industry 214