Synopses & Reviews
At the beginning of the twentieth century Venezuela had one of the poorest economies in Latin America, but by 1970 it had become the richest country in the region and one of the twenty richest countries in the world, ahead of countries like Greece, Israel, and Spain. Between 1978 and 2001, however, Venezuela’s economy went sharply in reverse, with non-oil GDP declining by almost 19 percent and oil GDP by an astonishing 65 percent. What accounts for this drastic turnabout? The editors of
Venezuela Before Chávez, who each played a policymaking role in the country’s economy during the past two decades, brought together a group of economists and political scientists to systematically examine the impact of a wide range of factors affecting the economy’s collapse, from the cost of labor regulation and the development of financial markets to the weakening of democratic governance and the politics of decisions about industrial policy.
Aside from the editors, the contributors are Omar Bello, Adriana Bermúdez, Matias Braun, Javier Corrales, Jonathan Di John, Rafael Di Tella, Javier Donna, Samuel Freije, Dan Levy, Robert MacCulloch, Francisco Monaldi, Osmel Manzano, María Antonia Moreno, Daniel Ortega, Michael Penfold, José Pineda, Lant Pritchett, Cameron A. Shelton, and Dean Yang.
Synopsis
A collection of essays that explore the collapse of economic growth in Venezuela since the 1970s. Essays discuss the relevance of public investment, labor markets, fiscal policy, institutions, politics, and values.
About the Author
Ricardo Hausmann is Professor of the Practice of Economic Development and Director of the Center for International Development at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He served as Venezuela’s Minister of Planning in 1992–93. Francisco R. Rodríguez is Chief Andean Economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. From 2000 to 2004 he served as Chief Economist of the Venezuelan National Assembly.
Table of Contents
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction Ricardo Hausmann and Francisco Rodríguez
Chapter 2: Why Did Venezuelan Growth Collapse?
Ricardo Hausmann and Francisco Rodríguez
Chapter 3: Venezuela After A Century of Oil Exploitation
Osmel Manzano
Chapter 4: Public Investment and Productivity Growth in the Venezuelan Manufacturing Industry
José Pineda and Francisco Rodríguez
Chapter 5: The Incidence of Labor Market Reforms on Employment in the Venezuelan Manufacturing Sector 1995–2001
Omar Bello and Adriana Bermúdez
Chapter 6: Understanding Economic Growth in Venezuela: 1970–2005
The Real Effects of a Financial Collapse
Matías Braun
Chapter 7: Much Higher Schooling, Much Lower Wages: Human Capital and Economic Collapse in Venezuela
Daniel Ortega and Lant Pritchett
Chapter 8: Income Distribution and Redistribution in Venezuela
Samuel Freije
Chapter 9: Competing for Jobs or Creating Jobs? The Impact of Immigration on Native-Born Unemployment in Venezuela, 1980-2003
Dan Levy and Dean Yang
Chapter 10: Sleeping in the Bed One Makes: The Venezuelan Fiscal Policy Response to the Oil Boom
María Antonia Moreno and Cameron A. Shelton
Chapter 11: Institutional Collapse: The Rise and Decline of Democratic Governance in Venezuela
Francisco Monaldi and Michael Penfold
Chapter 12: The Political Economy of Industrial Policy in Venezuela
Jonathan Di John
Chapter 13: Explaining Chavismo: The Unexpected Alliance of Radical Leftists and the Military in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez
Javier Corrales
Chapter 14: Oil, Macro Volatility and Crime in the Determination of Beliefs in Venezuela
Rafael Di Tella, Javier Donna, and Robert MacCulloch
Chapter 15: Understanding the Collapse: Venezuela’s Experience in Cross-National Perspective
Ricardo Hausmann and Francisco Rodríguez
List of Contributors
Index