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This article analyzes the behavior of the Economic Fitness indicator as a measure of the international competitiveness of Latin American economies, as well as an indicator of their relationship with per capita income gaps and the Human Development Index (HDI). Positive correlations were found between per capita income gaps and the stagnation of the international competitiveness of Latin American economies, as well as between human development levels and the productive structure, suggesting a causal relationship between human development and competitiveness. This paper also finds that the Economic Fitness indicator fluctuates significantly when estimated using exports in domestic value-added, suggesting that the original estimate may over- or underestimate competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the universe of literature on franchises, several studies have examined the impact of franchising on economic growth, tending to focus on growth rather than development, although the empirical research has already concluded that franchising does have an influence on economic growth. Likewise, some articles have underscored the importance and influence of franchising on development, but have failed to provide empirical proof of its true sway. With that in mind, this paper provides empirical evidence demonstrating the relationship between franchising and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revives Fernando Fajnzylber's methodology, used to characterize Latin America's development pattern from the nineteen-sixties to the nineteen-eighties, leading him to describe it as a non-equitable growth pattern, which he termed the empty box. This time around, we analyze the last thirty years, aiming to reveal how the development pattern in the region has fundamentally changed, if it has changed at all, and find evidence as to whether the empty box, pursuant to its original definition, persists or not. Implicitly, the task is to propose a critical analysis of Latin American economic development in line with a classic structuralist work, as Fajnyzylber's research is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses some of the challenges related to integration and cooperation in Latin America: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a clear platform that involves every country in the region, as well as various actors, and trade negotiations in the twenty-first century, in particular, mega-regional agreements whose scopes are limited to a few countries. Latin America is currently exploring the possibilities of convergence and cooperation in a context of diverse geopolitical interests. This will require adopting a flexible and inclusive approach. The experiences of Asia and Africa in this arena will undoubtedly be relevant. Achieving convergence will be crucial to fostering cooperation and coordinating policies to respond to the challenges of globalization. The region will also have to find new resources and models for national and international funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the hypothesis of regional convergence in Latin America through a non-linear growth model for the time period 1950-2010. The methodology combines three approaches: the threshold autoregressive model (tar), panel data unit root tests and calculating critical values with a bootstrapping simulation. The results of the tests applied to the per capita gross domestic product (gdp) of two groups of countries in Latin America (the wealthiest and then all nations in the region) suggest that the linear model is superior to the non-linear model and show no evidence of partial or absolute convergence. We did not identify a group of countries in the region with higher per capita income that would behave as a leading economy. Our results cast doubt on other studies conducted with linear tests that did find conditional convergence in some countries in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]