Industrial policy and employment generation in Latin America: a high road to development?

• In Event: Work in XXI Century Latin America: Options, Challenges and Promises I

Abstract

Since the 1980s there have been decisive shifts in the organization of production at a global scale with major implications for the role of Latin American economies as sites of investment, production and consumption. Moreover, rising social and political demands claiming for a resolution to chronic problems of poverty and inequality—often connected to the negative evolution of labour markets in the region—have placed increasing pressure on governments to search for development policies more effective in responding to these challenges. Both international and national conditions have contributed to creating the context within which industrial policy and its potential for affecting labour markets has acquired a new relevance in the region. In my paper I will explore the opportunities new industrial strategies might afford countries in the region to foster the conditions for the creation of employment and the betterment of the circumstances under which people are incorporated into labour markets.

Author

• Viviana R Patroni, York University