The Labor Market Story Behind Latin America's Transformation

After a robust recovery following the global crisis, Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) has entered into a phase of lower growth dynamics: economic activity in the region is expected to expand by about 3 percent in 2012, after having grown at 4 percent in 2011 and 6 percent in 2010. This deceleration is not specific to LAC but is part of a global slowdown. World growth is indeed declining sharply, from 4.5 percent in 2011 to about 2.3 percent in 2012. Notably, the slowdown in middle-income regions has taken place in a highly synchronized manner: growth rates in LAC, Eastern Europe and South East Asia have fallen by a very similar magnitude (about 3 percentage points) between 2010 and 2012. While this synchronization reflects exogenous (global) forces the spillover to emerging markets of weaker activity in the world's growth poles, particularly Europe and China it also reflects endogenous (internal) dynamics, particularly the fact that many Middle Income Countries (MIC) had already reached in 2010-2011 the peak of their own business cycles. This synchronicity notwithstanding, the 2012 growth forecasts for individual countries in LAC are significantly heterogeneous, reflecting complex interactions between external and country-specific factors. The first chapter, which is shorter, concerns the economic juncture and growth prospects. The second chapter, which is longer and more substantive, deals with selected labor issues from both the structural and cyclical viewpoints.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	de la Torre, Augusto, Messina, Julian, Pienknagura, Samuel
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2012-10
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE VALUE, ADVANCED ECONOMIES, ANNUAL GROWTH, ASSET PRICES, AVERAGE SHARE, BUSINESS CYCLES, CAPITAL ACCUMULATION, CAPITAL FLOWS, CAPITAL INFLOW, CATACLYSM, CENTRAL BANK, CENTRAL BANKS, COLLATERAL, COLLEGE EDUCATION, COLLEGE GRADUATES, COMMODITY PRICE, COMMODITY PRICE BOOM, COMMODITY PRICES, COMPETITIVE EXCHANGE RATE, COMPETITIVENESS, CONSENSUS FORECAST, CONSENSUS FORECASTS, CONSOLIDATION, CONSUMER CONFIDENCE, CONSUMER DEMAND, COUNTRY-SPECIFIC FACTORS, CRISES, CROSS-COUNTRY DATA, CURRENT ACCOUNT, CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCES, CYCLICAL ADJUSTMENTS, CYCLICAL DOWNTURN, DECREASING INEQUALITY, DEMAND SIDE, DEPRESSION, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPED ECONOMIES, DEVELOPING WORLD, DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS, DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION, DOMESTIC DEMAND, DOWNSIDE RISKS, DOWNWARD PRESSURE, DOWNWARD WAGE RIGIDITIES, DRIVERS, DUTCH DISEASE, EARNINGS INEQUALITY, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC INCENTIVES, ECONOMIC MOBILITY, ECONOMIC RESEARCH, ECONOMIC THEORY, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, EDUCATIONAL LEVELS, EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS, EMPLOYMENT CREATION, EMPLOYMENT INCREASES, EMPLOYMENT SHARE, EURO ZONE, EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION, EXPORT VOLUMES, EXPORTERS, EXTERNAL SHOCKS, FEMALE LABOR, FEMALE LABOR FORCE, FINANCIAL ASSETS, FINANCIAL CRISES, FINANCIAL CRISIS, FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FINANCIAL STABILITY, FISCAL REFORM, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, GINI COEFFICIENT, GLOBAL DEMAND, GLOBAL SLOWDOWN, GOVERNMENT BOND, GROWTH ACCELERATION, GROWTH DYNAMICS, GROWTH MODEL, GROWTH PERFORMANCE, GROWTH PERFORMERS, GROWTH PROSPECTS, GROWTH RATE, GROWTH RATES, HIGH GROWTH, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, HIGH-SCHOOL DROPOUTS, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD INCOME INEQUALITY, HUMAN CAPITAL, IMPORT, IMPORT CONTROLS, IMPORTS, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOMES, INDEBTEDNESS, INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES, INEQUALITY MEASURES, INEQUALITY TRENDS, INFLATION EXPECTATIONS, INFLATION TARGET, INFLATION TARGETING, INFLATION TARGETING REGIMES, INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, INTEREST RATE, INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MARKETS, INTERNATIONAL PRICES, INTERNATIONAL TRENDS, JOBS, LABOR COSTS, LABOR DEMAND, LABOR FORCE, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKETS, LABOR SUPPLY, LEGAL STATUS, LIQUIDITY, LIQUIDITY SUPPORT, LOCAL CURRENCY, LONG-TERM GROWTH, MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY, MACROECONOMIC POLICY, MANUFACTURING WAGES, MARKET PARTICIPANTS, MARKET SHARE, MEAN INCOME, MIDDLE CLASS, MINIMUM WAGE, MONETARY POLICY, MORAL HAZARD, NATURAL RESOURCE, NOMINAL EXCHANGE RATE, 0 HYPOTHESIS, OPPORTUNITY COST, OUTPUT GAP, OUTPUT GAPS, PAID WORKERS, PER CAPITA INCOME, PER CAPITA INCOME LEVELS, POLICY INTERVENTION, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POVERTY REDUCTION, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRODUCTIVITY, PUBLIC POLICY, PUBLIC TRANSFERS, RAPID INCREASE, RATE OF GROWTH, REAL APPRECIATION, REAL EXCHANGE RATE, REAL EXCHANGE RATE APPRECIATION, REAL WAGE, REAL WAGES, RECESSION, RELATIVE DEMAND, RELATIVE IMPORTANCE, RELATIVE INCOME, REMITTANCES, REMUNERATION, RETAIL TRADE, RISING INEQUALITY, RISK AVERSION, RISK PREMIUM, SAFETY, SAFETY NETS, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SELF EMPLOYED, SELF EMPLOYMENT, SERVICE EMPLOYMENT, SERVICE INDUSTRIES, SERVICE SECTOR, SERVICE SECTORS, SINGLE CURRENCY, SKILLED WORKERS, SLOW GROWTH, SOCIAL POLICY, SOCIAL PROGRESS, SOCIAL SAFETY, SOCIAL SAFETY NETS, SOVEREIGN DEBT, SPILLOVER, STABLE INFLATION, STANDARD DEVIATION, STRUCTURAL REFORMS, SUPPLY SIDE, SUPPLY-SIDE, TOTAL EMPLOYMENT, TRADE LOSSES, TRADE OPENNESS, UNCERTAINTIES, UNCERTAINTY, UNEMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, UNSKILLED LABOR, WAGE DETERMINATION, WAGE DISPERSION, WAGE DISTRIBUTION, WAGE FLEXIBILITY, WAGE GAP, WAGE INEQUALITY, WAGE RIGIDITIES, WEIGHTS, WORKERS, WORKFORCE, WORKING CLASS, WORLD DEMAND, WORLD ECONOMY, WORLD TRADE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16843007/labor-market-story-behind-latin-americas-transformation https://hdl.handle.net/10986/11884
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