Introduction

Abstract

This book has two core themes: the disappointing average growth performance of Latin American economies during the post-market reforms period (since around 1990) and the significant diversity across countries around this average performance. More precisely, the main questions addressed are: (1) What explains that the Latin American subcontinent, which has gone further than other developing regions in the process of economic liberalization, has had such a poor and disappointing growth performance over the past 30 years; (2) What explains the diversity in growth performance across countries ranging from respectable growth rates in Dominican Republic, Chile, or Peru to very low growth rates in countries such as Mexico and Brazil. Why, in other words, do some Latin American economies grow faster than others?