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1. Chinese Firms and Adherence to Global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Standards in Developing Countries: Is there Potential to Create Common Ground?

Author:
Mike Morris
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
This paper focuses on analysing how Chinese firms operate in Latin America, Asia and Africa in regard to ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards and sustainability issues. How do they respond to the increasing global value chain requirement to incorporate and maintain ESG standards? Is their space for an alignment between Western development cooperation ESG policies, frameworks, strategies and practices and Chinese political and economic stakeholders in the developing world? The paper uses a variety of case studies covering Chinese firms (disaggregated into SOEs (state-owned enterprises) and large, medium and small private sector firms) operating in various sectors in countries across the developing world. It uses a three dimensional framework to analyse different types of Chinese firms in terms of value chain operations covering many of the ESG standards they are required to meet: 1. Supply chain relations (i.e. approach to supporting upgrading of local suppliers); 2. Internal firm processes (i.e. approach to local labour, training and upskilling); 3. Social licence to operate (i.e. approach to meaningfully engaging with local communities taking account of their social and economic needs).
Topic:
Development, Environment, Governance, Business, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:
Africa, China, Asia, and Latin America

2. Building Bridges between Dependency Theory and Neo-Gramscian Critical Theory: The Agency-Structure Relation as a Starting Point

Author:
Rafael Alexandre Mello
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Contexto Internacional
Institution:
Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Abstract:
Finding common ground between theories that have never or seldom spoken is a necessary first step to bridge-building, particularly concerning their foundational bases. This article proposes to develop such a footing for a dialogue between the Marxist version of Latin American Dependency Theory (MDT) and Robert Cox’s neo-Gramscian Critical Theory (NCT). The onto-methodological debate around the agency-structure relation offers a possible starting point for a discussion of (in)compatibilities, in particular by deciphering how each understands the relation; but also by asking whether they bring particular social ontologies that need to be addressed.
Topic:
Development, Diplomacy, Hegemony, and International Relations Theory
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, North America, and Global Focus

3. Healthier Firms for a Stronger Recovery: Policies to Support Business and Jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author:
Andrew Powell and Liliana Rojas-Suarez
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
This report—the product of a joint working group convened by the Center for Global Development and the Inter-American Development Bank—focuses on firms and labor markets in Latin America and the Caribbean during the COVID-19 crisis and the highly uncertain recovery phase now underway. The ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, volatility in international financial markets, and fears of global stagflation (low growth and high inflation) combine with the impacts of the pandemic to make the economic environment particularly challenging. Through a balance sheet analysis, the report describes how larger firms have navigated the crisis by cutting back on vari­able costs and investment. It also focuses on small and medi­um-size enterprises (SMEs), which appear to have suffered more in terms of closures and restrictions on credit access. The impacts on labor markets were unprecedented, with steep falls in employment and participation rates. A key question is whether the reallocation of resources, favor­ing firms in sectors that were hit less hard and able to take advantage of digital technologies, will persist. Key dangers are that informality is higher than ever, that productive resources remain trapped in small and less productive or ultimately unviable enterprises, and that firms are not rebuilding their capital stocks quickly. Drawing on an analysis of firms and labor markets, the report provides a set of recommendations for policymakers in the region and suggestions for international financial institutions to assist productive firms to invest, support the growth of new firms, and enhance labor market performance.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Finance, and Banking
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, Caribbean, and North America

4. Mapping the “Women, Peace and Security” agenda in Latin America: a comparison of the UN’s National Action Plans

Author:
Paula Drumond, Tamya Rebelo, Isa Mendes, and Ana Velasco
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
BRICS Policy Center
Abstract:
Adopted on October 31, 2000 by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Resolution 1325 has since then been one of the main references for the development, strengthening, and expansion of policies aimed at promoting gender equality, giving rise to the so-called Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. This Policy Brief aims to map and systematize the diffusion of the WPS agenda in Latin America. This analysis aims to reflect on the contours of the agenda in the region and deepen the understanding of how Latin American countries engage with this global normative framework. Based on an analysis of the National Action Plans (NAPs) adopted so far by countries in the region (Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico), the work reveals how the agenda is being adopted in these different contexts, seeking to identify existing convergences and particularities. The mapping and analysis of the NAPs are organized around three main aspects: (i) their elaboration process and the actors involved; (ii) the content, objectives, and measures adopted; and (iii) implementation and monitoring strategies. The goal is to offer a general diagnosis of the national engagements with the agenda, summarizing the main advances, limitations, and recommendations to promote its implementation in the region.
Topic:
Security, Development, United Nations, Women, Peace, and Equality
Political Geography:
Latin America

5. Social Mobility and Economic Development: Evidence from a Panel of Latin American Regions

Author:
Guido Neidhofer, Matias Ciaschi, Leonardo Gasparini, and Joaquín Serrano
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
We explore the role of social mobility as a driver of economic development by constructing a panel data set that includes measures of intergenerational mobility of education at the sub-national level in Latin America. First, we map the geography of educational mobility for 52 Latin American regions, as well as its evolution over time. Then, through a novel weighting procedure that considers the participation of cohorts to the economy in each year, we estimate the effect of changes in mobility on economic indicators, such as income per capita, poverty, child mortality, and luminosity. Hereby, we control for several covariates, including migration, educational expansions, initial conditions, and unobserved cross-regional heterogeneity. Our findings show that increasing social mobility had a significant and robust impact on the development of Latin American regions.
Topic:
Development, Economic Growth, Economic Mobility, Equality, and Equality of Opportunity
Political Geography:
Latin America

6. Europe’s last chance: How the EU can (and should) become the indispensable actor in Venezuela’s democratic restoration

Author:
Ryan C. Berg and Jorge González-Gallarza
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The EU’s current policy approach toward Venezuela is insufficient to contribute meaningfully to a political transition in the country and protect human rights. Oftentimes, the EU’s policy has been at odds with the US, having permitted unrelated disagreements to cloud its recognition of its strategic interest in a free, prosperous, and democratic Venezuela. The Nicolas Maduro regime’s illicit investment schemes have found fertile ground in the EU at large, with a particular hotspot in Spain. A torrent of investments and acquisitions has allowed corrupt cronies in Maduro’s entourage to engage in unfathomable kleptocracy and stash their ill-gotten gains in the eurozone, vitiating the rule of law in the process. The EU consistently underappreciates the Maduro regime’s multi-faceted security threat, which intersects with and compounds many of the EU’s greatest geostrategic challenges in the post-COVID-19 landscape. China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia are all at once strategic rivals of the EU and enablers of the Maduro regime’s threat to its security. The Joe Biden administration’s commitment to multilateral engagement in Venezuela offers the EU a chance to reclaim transatlantic cooperation and present a common vision for political transition in the country. Beefing up sanctions and developing a coordination mechanism, as well as drumming up humanitarian aid, would constitute serious progress and potentially thrust the EU into the role of indispensable actor in Venezuela’s democratic restoration.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Sanctions, European Union, Democracy, Multilateralism, and Hugo Chavez
Political Geography:
Europe, Latin America, Spain, and Venezuela

7. Approaches for Supporting Smallholders in the Global South: Contentious Issues, Experiences, Syntheses

Author:
Theo Rauch and Michael Brüntrup
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
There is a widely held consensus that it will not be possible to feed the world without the help of the smallholders of Africa, Latin America and Asia, who number up to 570 million farms or 2 billion people. Given the sheer size of this figure alone, the sustainable development of smallholder farming will be key to achieving a range of other sustainability goals.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, and Sustainable Development Goals
Political Geography:
Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Global South

8. Quantifying Investment Facilitation at Country Level: Introducing a New Index

Author:
Axel Berger, Ali Dadkhah, and Zoryana Olekseyuk
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Abstract:
This article introduces a new and unique dataset for measuring the adoption of investment facilitation measures at country level. The Investment Facilitation Index (IFI) covers 117 individual investment facilitation measures, clustered in six policy areas, and maps their adoption for 86 countries. This article presents the conceptual and methodological background of the IFI and provides a first analysis of the level of adoption of investment facilitation measures across countries participating in the investment facilitation for development negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Our dataset reveals novel insights. Countries which have lower levels of adoption belong to the low-income and lower-middle-income country group and are often located in Africa, the Middle East and to some extent Latin America and the Caribbean. The strong correlation between FDI and the IFI score shows that countries with the lowest levels of FDI, and thus in need of policy tools to attract FDI, have the lowest levels of adoption when it comes to investment facilitation measures. Our dataset has direct relevance for current policy discussions on investment facilitation for development in the WTO but also for domestic-level policy-making. Furthermore, the IFI provides the basis for a future research agenda to assess the design and impact of a future WTO agreement.
Topic:
Development, Investment, and WTO
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Caribbean

9. Toxic Conflict: Understanding Venezuela's Economic Collapse

Author:
Juan Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper discusses the causes of Venezuela’s recent economic collapse, the largest in modern Latin American economic history and one of the largest in modern world history outside of wartime. I argue that Venezuela’s economic implosion is a combination of two crises. The first one reflects the standard unraveling of a populist macroeconomic cycle fed by overspending during a resource boom, while the second one reflects the severing of the country’s trade and financial links with the global economy. This severing is the consequence of the decision by political actors to adopt “scorched earth” strategies with large negative aggregate economic spillovers in their fight for power. I argue that the inability of Venezuela’s high-stakes, winner-take-all political system to deal with the large negative 2014–16 trade shock precipitated the change in political strategies and the descent into economically destructive political conflict.
Topic:
Development, Political Economy, Democracy, Economic Growth, Conflict, Institutions, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
South America and Latin America

10. Beyond a Single Model: Explaining Differences in Inequality within Latin America

Author:
Diego Sánchez-Ancochea
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper studies the determinants of income inequality in Latin America over the long run, comparing them with explanations of why the whole region is unequal. I first show how land inequality can account for differences between Latin America and other parts of the world but how it does not explain within-region differences. Using qualitative comparative analysis, I then consider how political institution and actors interact with the economic structure (i.e., type of export specialization) and with the ethnic composition of the population. The paper has several findings. A low indigenous/afrodescendant population is a necessary condition for relatively low inequality. I identify two sufficient-condition paths, both of which include the role of democracy, political equality, and a small indigenous and afrodescendant population. The first path also includes a favorable export specialization, while the second one includes the presence of leftist presidents instead. The paper calls for more explicit comparisons between our analytical models for the whole region and our explanations of between-country differences. Hopefully, the paper can also trigger more research on how the interactions between ethnicity, politics, and the export structure shape inequality in Latin America.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Political Economy, Poverty, Race, Social Movement, Democracy, Inequality, and Ethnicity
Political Geography:
Latin America

11. Is the Future of Central America’s Growth Sustainable?

Author:
Sergio Martinez and Mauricio Garita
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Central America is a region in the Americas with potential for higher economic growth. For the regional economy to grow in a sustainable manner in the years ahead, policymakers must act on three fronts: economic diversification, workforce upskilling, and intra-regional cooperation.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Poverty, Income Inequality, Economic Growth, and Multilateralism
Political Geography:
Latin America and Central America

12. Building Development Partnership: Engagement Between China and Latin America

Author:
Haibin Niu
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
The full-fledged economic ties between China and Latin America and the Caribbean are important indicators of China’s role as a global player. In the ongoing and heightened debate about China’s rise, China’s impact on Latin America is being discussed by scholars and policymakers worldwide. Though there are doubts about China’s intentions and impact on Latin America, China has developed a more substantial and meaningful policy framework to build development partnership with the region.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, International Cooperation, and Economic Cooperation
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Latin America

13. Setting an example? Spillover effects of Peruvian Magnet Schools

Author:
Alejandro Herrera, Mariel Bedoya, Bruno Gonzaga, and Karen Espinoza
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
In this paper we use a Multi-Cutoff Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design to evaluate spillover effects of students enrolled into Peruvian public magnet schools, Colegios de Alto Rendimiento (COAR), on educational outcomes of younger students in their schools of origin. Using administrative data from the Ministry of Education for 2016, we find that having at least one student admitted in a COAR school causes some negative spillover effects on math test scores of students from the following cohort. No evidence of statistically significant results is found for verbal and history test scores, nor for self-reported educational expectations. We discuss potential causes and reasons that may explain our results.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Education
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

14. Hybrid Institutions: Institutionalizing Practices in the Context of Extractive Expansion

Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Postgraduate Program on Sustainable Development and Social Inequalities in the Andean Region (trAndeS)
Abstract:
States face the challenge of developing institutions to govern the activities of social actors when an area under their control becomes the target of increased extractive activities. National and local public regulations safeguarding the environment, the assignment of extractive rights to individuals or companies, and handling of ensuing conflicts are developed in an institutional gray zone. This paper analyzes how informal institutions developed in early period become hybrid institutional entanglements that depend largely on configurations of power. It does so by looking at two cases in Peru: Water extraction in Ica, mostly by large companies and gold mining in Madre de Dios, mostly by small scale miners. Taken together, these cases show the institutions resulting from state governance of extractive activities depends heavily on the agency and political leverage of the state but also of other social actors.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Environment, Natural Resources, Water, Institutions, and Ecology
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

15. Does the rise of the middle class disguise existing inequalities in Brazil?

Author:
Yume Tamiya
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex
Abstract:
In 2018/2019 the CGPE launched an annual Gender & Global Political Economy Undergraduate Essay Prize competition, open to all undergraduate students within the School of Global Studies. The winner of the 2018/2019 competition is Isabella Garcia for the essay “How do global supply chains exacerbate gender-based violence against women in the Global South?” Isabella graduated with a BA in International Relations and Development in July and will join the MA cohort in our Global Political Economy programme for 2019/2020. Given the very strong field of submissions, the award committee further decided to award a second-place prize to Yume Tamiya for the essay “Does the rise of the middle class disguise existing inequalities in Brazil?”. Yume graduated with a BA in International Development with International Education and Development. We are delighted to publish both of these excellent essays in the CGPE Working Paper series.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Inequality, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America

16. Climate and Security in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author:
Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Giovanna Kuele, and Alice Amorim
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Igarapé Institute
Abstract:
The connections between climate change and security are complex. The interaction with other factors and the speed and type of social change vary across different contexts. Climate change rarely, if ever, causes insecurity directly; intervening variables – most of them related to governance, development and resource management – mediate this relationship. The articles in this volume explore how climate contributes to insecurity in the LAC region. They resulted from a partnership between the Igarapé Institute and the Instituto Clima e Sociedade (iCS), both in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the support of the German Embassy in Brasília. This partnership yielded a workshop, held in July 2019, that brought together the twelve researchers and practitioners from across the region to discuss how climate and security are linked in LAC.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Development, International Security, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America and Caribbean

17. The Post-Political Link Between Gender and Climate Change: The Case of the Nationally Determined Contributions Support Programme

Author:
Felipe Jaramillo Ruiz and Juan Pablo Vallejo
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Contexto Internacional
Institution:
Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Abstract:
This paper interrogates to what extent the gender component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Support Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reaffirms the post-political condition of climate change. By analysing the incorporation of gender in the NDC Support Programme and its articulation in Colombia’s Low-Carbon Development Strategy, the study exposes the strategic, epistemological, and normative risks of advancing feminist ideas within mainstream institutional frameworks. Thus, this paper shows the opportunities and challenges of dislocating the political and epistemological boundaries of climate change policies by promoting feminist ideas.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Gender Issues, United Nations, and Women
Political Geography:
Colombia and Latin America

18. Darkness at noon: deforestation in the new authoritarian era

Author:
Susanna B. Hecht
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
The dramatic Amazon fires images of Au-gust 2019 triggered a geopolitical outcry. Brazilian President Bolsonaro, however, unflinchingly continues to support his destructive model of Amazonian development. This article recalls the extent of the disaster and delves into the reasons behind such disdain for environmental concerns.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, and Environment
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America