Firm Innovation and Productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean

After a decade of favorable international conditions, most Latin American and Caribbean countries are now confronting their reality. Despite the observed increases in growth rates, decline in unemployment, and spectacular fi gures in investment and saving, factors behind long-run growth and sustainability are still showing meager results. Total factor productivity has not changed in most countries in the region for more than a decade. This is alarming, since improvements on the inspirational side of economic
growth are heavily correlated with movements in income per capita. Most of the theoretical and empirical efforts have focused on analyzing the sources of this delay on a macro-level. By examining aggregate fi gures related to research and development (R&D), foreign direct investments (FDI), macro-regulations, and sometimes educational issues, it is possible to derive policy implications almost without considering several meso and micro-characteristics of the countries that may determine the success or
failure of these recommendations.
[Basingstoke: 2016]

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