Le politiche di sviluppo economico local sono parte delle aree di intervento dei governi locali in Spagna per tre decenni. Tuttavia, la traiettoria di queste politiche è stata condizionata, tra gli altri fattori, dalla mancanza di poteri formali e dipendenza dalle risorse e programmi esterni. Quindi il concetto prevalente di sviluppo economico locale è spesso limitato a promuovere l'imprenditorialità, sostegno alle imprese e servizi per l'impiego in ambiente esclusivo dell'economia di mercato capitalistica, e non integra una prospettiva molto più ampia e diversificata di sia lo sviluppo e l'economia.Una strategia locale di sviluppo economico che sia in grado di integrare le sue tre dimensioni (attrazione, proiezione e networking) in base alle possibilità e aspirazioni locali fornisce una base molto migliore per governare il modello di sviluppo e la sua evoluzione in ciascun territorio. D'altra parte, l'applicazione del termine "resilienza" alle economie locali, anche se controverso, fornisce un quadro potente per costruire una rinnovata agenda per le strategie e le politiche di sviluppo economico locale. ; Local economic development policies are part of the areas of intervention of local governments in Spain for three decades. However, the trajectory of these policies has been conditioned, among other factors, by a lack of legal powers and dependence on external resources and programs. Therefore the prevailing concept of local economic development is often limited to fostering entrepreneurship, business support and employment services in the exclusive setting of the capitalist market economy, and does not integrate a much broader and diverse perspective of both development and economy.A local economic development strategy that is able to integrate its three dimensions (attraction, projection and networking) according to local possibilities and aspirations provides a much better basis for governing the development model and its evolution in each territory. On the other side, the application of the term "resilience" to local economies, although controversial, provides a powerful framework to build a renewed agenda for local economic development strategies and policies. ; Le politiche di sviluppo economico local sono parte delle aree di intervento dei governi locali in Spagna per tre decenni. Tuttavia, la traiettoria di queste politiche è stata condizionata, tra gli altri fattori, dalla mancanza di poteri formali e dipendenza dalle risorse e programmi esterni. Quindi il concetto prevalente di sviluppo economico locale è spesso limitato a promuovere l'imprenditorialità, sostegno alle imprese e servizi per l'impiego in ambiente esclusivo dell'economia di mercato capitalistica, e non integra una prospettiva molto più ampia e diversificata di sia lo sviluppo e l'economia.Una strategia locale di sviluppo economico che sia in grado di integrare le sue tre dimensioni (attrazione, proiezione e networking) in base alle possibilità e aspirazioni locali fornisce una base molto migliore per governare il modello di sviluppo e la sua evoluzione in ciascun territorio. D'altra parte, l'applicazione del termine "resilienza" alle economie locali, anche se controverso, fornisce un quadro potente per costruire una rinnovata agenda per le strategie e le politiche di sviluppo economico locale.
Este artículo se basa en una investigación etnográfica desarrollada junto con la Rama Textil del Movimiento de Trabajadores Excluidos (MTE), perteneciente a la Confederación de Trabajadores de la Economía Popular (CTEP), en el Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buscaré mostrar que la economía popular es plural en el sentido de que mixtura y se construye a partir de relaciones usualmente consideradas "no económicas" (la familia, la pareja, los vínculos comunitarios y políticos). Analizo el modo en que esta pluralidad fue procesada para crear una forma de organización gremial que articuló el trabajo productivo con el desarrollo de formas colectivas de reproducción de la vida en un sentido amplio. Sostengo que el carácter plural como condición y potencialidad de las economías populares permite subrayar el valor de su producción cotidiana y cuestionar los prejuicios y estigmas que pesan sobre sus trabajadores. ; This article is based on an ethnographic research developed together with the Textile Branch of the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE) that belongs to the Confederation of Workers of the Popular Economy (CTEP), in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. I show that the popular economy is plural in the sense that it assembles and builds on relationships usually considered "non economical" (family, couple, community and political ties). I analyse how this plurality was processed to create a form of trade union organisation that articulated productive work with the development of collective forms for the reproduction of life. I argue that the popular economies' plural character as a condition and potential allows to emphasize the value of its everyday production and to call into question the preconceptions and stigmas associated to its workers. ; Este artigo baseia-se numa investigação etnográfica desenvolvida junto ao Ramo Têxtil do Movimento de Trabalhadores Excluídos (MTE), pertencente à Confederação de Trabalhadores da Economia Popular (CTEP), na Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tento mostrar que a economia popular é plural no sentido de que mistura e se constrói a partir de relações geralmente consideradas "não econômicas" (a família, o casal, os vínculos comunitários e políticos). Quero analisar o modo em como esta pluralidade foi processada para criar uma forma de organização sindical que articulou o trabalho produtivo com o desenvolvimento de formas coletivas de reprodução da vida em sentido amplo. Sustento que o caráter plural como condição e potencialidade das economias populares permite sublinhar o valor da sua produção cotidiana desafiando os preconceitos e estigmas que pesam sobre os seus trabalhadores.
Este artículo se basa en una investigación etnográfica desarrollada junto con la Rama Textil del Movimiento de Trabajadores Excluidos (MTE), perteneciente a la Confederación de Trabajadores de la Economía Popular (CTEP), en el Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buscaré mostrar que la economía popular es plural en el sentido de que mixtura y se construye a partir de relaciones usualmente consideradas "no económicas" (la familia, la pareja, los vínculos comunitarios y políticos). Analizo el modo en que esta pluralidad fue procesada para crear una forma de organización gremial que articuló el trabajo productivo con el desarrollo de formas colectivas de reproducción de la vida en un sentido amplio. Sostengo que el carácter plural como condición y potencialidad de las economías populares permite subrayar el valor de su producción cotidiana y cuestionar los prejuicios y estigmas que pesan sobre sus trabajadores. ; This article is based on an ethnographic research developed together with the Textile Branch of the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE) that belongs to the Confederation of Workers of the Popular Economy (CTEP), in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. I show that the popular economy is plural in the sense that it assembles and builds on relationships usually considered "non economical" (family, couple, community and political ties). I analyse how this plurality was processed to create a form of trade union organisation that articulated productive work with the development of collective forms for the reproduction of life. I argue that the popular economies' plural character as a condition and potential allows to emphasize the value of its everyday production and to call into question the preconceptions and stigmas associated to its workers. ; Este artigo baseia-se numa investigação etnográfica desenvolvida junto ao Ramo Têxtil do Movimento de Trabalhadores Excluídos (MTE), pertencente à Confederação de Trabalhadores da Economia Popular (CTEP), na Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tento mostrar que a economia popular é plural no sentido de que mistura e se constrói a partir de relações geralmente consideradas "não econômicas" (a família, o casal, os vínculos comunitários e políticos). Quero analisar o modo em como esta pluralidade foi processada para criar uma forma de organização sindical que articulou o trabalho produtivo com o desenvolvimento de formas coletivas de reprodução da vida em sentido amplo. Sustento que o caráter plural como condição e potencialidade das economias populares permite sublinhar o valor da sua produção cotidiana desafiando os preconceitos e estigmas que pesam sobre os seus trabalhadores.
In recent years, the slow pace of economic growth, high indebtedness, and high unemployment registered in most developed economies since 2009 have revived the debate over the "secular stagnation hypothesis" first formulated by the Keynesian economist Alvin Hansen in 1938. This return of the secular stagnation hypothesis occurred in November 2013, when Lawrence Summers postulated that the global economy was facing a scenario of low growth, low inflation, and a reduction in GDP per capita due to a chronic insufficiency of aggregate demand. The causes should be sought not only in cyclical factors associated with a long financial cycle and excessive accumulated public and private debt, but also in structural changes in the central economies in recent decades, linked to the rapid slowdown in population growth and the gradual aging of the population. Finally, other factors also depress demand, such as the progressive exhaustion of the globalization process and the consolidation of new labor models. In light of these developments, this paper's aim is twofold: first, to perform an econometric panel-data study in order to determine the influence of each of these factors in explaining secular stagnation in recent years for the selected sample of countries; and, second, to lay out proposals for reorienting the government intervention strategies adopted since the onset of the financial crisis to promote consumption and achieve sustained growth, job creation, and poverty reduction.
IntroductionRapidly-growing enterprises (RGEs) can play a crucial role in emerging economies with lasting impact on their economic growth. This type of enterprises must manage the change to remain both competitive and flexible in order to survive. Similarly, the emerging economies are characterized by rapid structural change in their socio-economic institutions and traditional practices for gaining competitiveness to face the competitive pressures of the increasing globalized economy. In general, SMEs have the requisite flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances, to become a vehicle for enhancing competitiveness by upgrading their capabilities in a country, and thus become major contributors to economic growth. The added feature of RGEs is that they grow faster and achieve higher growth while facing more constrained resources than their SME counterparts. We posit that emerging economies face similar barriers and challenges and RGEs can provide valuable lessons for more effective management. Change in emerging economies is inevitable and will manifest itself at the firm, industry and institutional levels. Regardless of the original source, the instability resulting from rapid change need to be managed with a view to long term growth. For a firm to succeed in a dynamic emerging market, the lessons from other firms managing in dynamic emerging industries can be highly instructive. Emerging industries are characterized by a rapid change in terms of the definition of industry, member firms' production function, relation with buyers, suppliers and competitors. This dynamism is in part due to evolutionary changes in technology, knowledge and also is an inevitable outcome of specialization, which allows for faster growth; but results in higher interdependence of firms internationally. Emerging economies will inevitably compete with the members of those new industries; and therefore it may be efficient to learn from the players that are creating and shaping the new competitive structure. RGEs contribute to enhancing technical progress by increasing the rate of invention and innovation, and the speed with which new technology is disseminated and adopted by other firms. Globalization has forced countries to interlink their economies (Armijo, 2008), increasing their interdependence and thus forcing them to react to, and respond to change, accordingly (Hoekman and Porto, 2010). Therefore, emerging economies are facing similar situations to those of RGEs: a changing reality resulting from technological advances and shifts in macroeconomic policies due to internal and external factors such as the dynamics of WTO, Trading Blocs, among others. Given the present need of emerging markets to raise their competitive levels, RGEs are highly-suitable models from which to learn how to cope with and take advantage of the new emerging environments. In this paper we describe RGEs ´characteristics in order to learn about the crucial tasks of managing the complexity of rapid change due to the emergence change. We also explore how the emerging economies can bridge, and even close, the gap with the industrialized economies and whether or not the rapidly-growing enterprises may play an important role. The Characteristics of the Emerging Economies Emerging economies are a group of countries that play an increasingly important role in the global economy. The term "emerging economies" was originally coined by the IFC to describe a fairly narrow list of middle-to-higher income economies as a subset of developing countries. According to Hoskisson, Eden, Lau, and Wright (2000), "emerging economies" are those newly industrializing countries that have adopted market-based policies. Khanna and Palepu (1997: 42) suggest that in defining emerging economies, "the most important criterion is how well an economy helps buyers and sellers come together." They point out that the lack of proper institutions—relative to developed countries—make emerging markets more inefficient and incomplete, whereby information problems, misguided regulation, and inefficient judicial systems hamper communication between buyers and sellers. Bureaucratic judiciary systems, for example, make registration processes lengthier and costlier than in developed economies with a negative impact on transparency and providing fertile ground for favoritism and corruption. Labor markets are frequently highly regulated imposing additional costs on SMEs making them less flexible than otherwise (see Table 1). Table 1: FIRM-SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS IN EMERGING ECONOMIES Output marketInput marketLow competitiveness Limited international experienceLiberalization policiesGlobalization Asymmetric access to information & to technologyLimited access to local and international capital marketsPoor dissemination of information related to international marketsLabor marketManagerial constrainsOwnership structureLack of managerial expertiseLack of consulting servicesLack of administrative structureSocial ties between senior managersFamily-owned business Sources: Adopted from Hoskisson et al. (2000), Khanna and Palepu (1997) and Mody (2004)The institutional aspects of the emerging economies Mody (2004) proposes another definition that emphasizes a) a high degree of volatility due to the transitional nature of their economic, political, social, and demographic conditions, b) the inherent trade-offs between flexibility in policy commitments, and c) the transition from transaction-specific to institutional commitments. The idea of a transition from transaction-specific to institutional commitments is appealing in view of the fact that such institutions must also subsume the socio-cultural dimension of the problem. According to North (2005), economic performance depends on institutional heritage, economic rules and, how those rules are devised and enforced, and the specific institutional constraints of each market. In order to reduce rent-seeking, free-riding and morally hazardous behaviors, it is desirable to evolve from a transaction-specifics situation to a rule-based situation, whereby the agents involved in the situation are not relevant to, or cannot influence, the due-process. Having strong and clearly-defined institutions that enhance the performance of firms is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition to guaranty economic growth. Clague (1996) finds that the characteristics and stability of political regimes have an impact on economic institutions. Similarly, Mauro (1995) argues that bureaucratic and institutional efficiencies are positively correlated with political stability and that poor countries tend to have cumbersome bureaucracy and inefficient institutions. Not only the rules need to be adequate for the circumstances, but also they must be enforced. As North (1990: 107) points out, institutions "are the underlying determinant of the long-run performance of economies". The greater the transparency in terms of information and access to efficient judiciary systems the lowers transaction cost of engaging in productive activities. Artificial national asymmetries and deficiencies, for example, limited governmental support and/or biases in favor of large companies that lobby the government, creates barriers for smaller firms to access to key resources, hence, hindering their competitiveness Characteristics of Rapidly-Growing Enterprises Delmar, Davidson, and Gartner, (2003), Ala-Mutka and Etemad (2006), Fischer and Reuber (2003), Birch, Haggerty, and Parsons (1993) and Keen and Etemad (2011 and 2012) have identified a very interesting group of companies called Gazelles or, in this paper, RGEs. These companies are characterized as smaller firms experiencing explosive growth for a sustained period of time. There are not industry-specific and are found in many industries, ranging from shoes manufacturing, construction to knowledge-intensive and pharmaceutical development. Their main common characteristic is fast growth in revenues, number of employees and revenue per employee. Naturally, this rapid growth in employment and revenues are the consequents of their expansion and further penetration in local and international markets. Most of them internationalize rapidly as well by climbing over international entry barriers effectively. These aspects should be of particular interest to developing economies because of their impact at least in three ways: i) Primary and direct impact. Not only do they generate employment and incremental income but they also increase the total production of goods and service, as well as wealth, in a much shorter period of time than other enterprises. ii) Secondary impact by providing a model to learn from and emulate their action -- the spill-over effects of their success to the rest of the economy would further contributing to the well-being of their region and possibly beyond, otherwise absent (i.e., when normally growing firms are inspired, learn from and emulate local RGEs) iii) Benchmarks for best practices and world-class competitiveness. By aiming to succeed in international markets from the very beginning, these companies need to set their strategic horizons very high adopting the best managerial practices and strategies to achieve the competitive that would enable them to compete internationally at the outset. They tend to select partners, whether suppliers or buyers, that share the same working philosophy and follow similar strategies to complement them. They function collaboratively and interdependently mainly as members of networks as opposed to operating independently. RGEs are in many cases the fundamental core of potential industrial clusters that radiate their momentum to the rest of the economy. They may or may not be a part of a regional industrial cluster; but they actively manage a smaller cluster of their own value net: i.e., an efficient network of buyers and suppliers involved in the both the supply and value chains that collectively generate higher value than their counterparts. This paper will return to the topic or RGEs in the next section. It will present and briefly analyze RGEs in order to examine their main patterns of strategic operations and rapid growth for adoption by the emerging economies to speed-out the transformation of their economic growth and developments. Discussion This discussion builds on the arguments presented earlier and explores the possibility of emerging economies learning from, and emulating, RGES in the developed economies to shorten the time and the path of transformation. In so doing, five broad influential topics will assist in examining different aspect of this examination, as follows. The Need for Re-evaluation and Re-configuration of Advantages In changing environments, property-based assets lose their potency relatively faster than elsewhere. As Miller and Shamsie (1996: 522) observe ¨most competitors will be aware of the value of a rival's property-based resources, and they may even have the knowledge to duplicate these resources¨. However, the knowledge-based resources, more likely to have a higher potentials for generating competitive advantages and growth. Furthermore, the firm has more effective control over the creation and deployment of knowledge–based assets than those of property-based assets. As mentioned earlier, in dynamic environments, firms are forced to gain productivity and meet world-class standards to keep pace with others. A key suggestion of this paper, based on the experience of RGEs, is that without learning and knowledge acquisition to give rise to knowledge-based assets, capabilities and competitiveness, the probability of closing the technological gap and reducing the income inequality will simply not be feasible. Technological gap can be viewed primarily as knowledge gap combined with the lack of process know-how to exploit the technology in a timely manner. Income inequality is in part due to comparatively inefficient of firm operation characterized by their growth rates. In to the case of property-based resources, where competitor may develop the knowledge of how to replicate such resources and thus reduce the competitors' advantage, the traditional barriers (such as legal constraint or historical endowments) did not allow firms to acquire those resources easily. As discussed earlier, those barriers are eroding rapidly. In contrast, knowledge-based resources cannot be easily imitated by firms that do not already posses the requisite know-how. It would be difficult, costly or risky to replicate and time may not favour imitators. As Miller and Shamsie (1996: 522) argue, "knowledge-based resources allow organizations to succeed, not by market control or precluding competition, but by giving firms the skills to adapt their products to market needs and to deal with competitive challenges". Firms in emerging economies will have to learn how to adapt and to respond to international market needs relatively fast to reduce the risk of falling further behind. The relatively static characteristics of the closed-economies, firms were not forced to possess the requisite capabilities to deal with complex situations. Aspiring firms will have to develop collaborative skills to develop and share knowledge to devise new routines and processes to deal with increasing more complex situations. Therefore, the transitional period can be characterized by an ongoing process of unlearning the old routines and the learning the new ones, mainly from more progressive firms such RGEs in order to cope with the new requirements of increasingly more sophisticated demand conditions and tougher competition. The Need for Change in Managers Mindset and the Firm's Out Look. On the one hand, there is a need to understand the implications of the changes in order to develop potentially different courses of action available and how they affect the industry and business practices. On the other hand, according to Weick (1995), the strategic decisions of managers depend on their cognitive structures and how they make sense of the environment. Enterprises need to understand any pending or intended change in a way that "makes sense" to them, fits into some of their interpretative scheme or system of meaning (Bartunek, 1984; Ranson, Hinings, and Greenwood, 1980). When firms face a different environment, such as new international competition, new suppliers and customers, there is a need for a thorough revision because previous symbols, values, and historical attributes may no longer be relevant to the organization that faces the new reality. It is likely that there will be irreconcilable inconsistencies between key labels used in the organization and the key concepts needed for comprehending and dealing with the new reality. The awareness of alternative actions is the key to proper action "in regard to the changes occurring in the data of the markets" (Mises, 1949: 255). Past actions, thinking and experiences that were concretized in norms, standards procedures, and job specifications of the near past need to be revised and in some cases unlearned because they do not reflect the emerging reality anymore. In the entrepreneurial literature, the entrepreneur is the person who has the ability to make the transition possible, to develop new ideas and to set the strategic directions. Firms need to be alert (Kirzner, 1973) to the signal from the markets. The alertness of managers to take advantage of new opportunities and to meet changing market conditions through discovery may be considerably reduced if firms do not change their dominant logic (Prahalad and Bettis, 1986) in order to develop novel strategies. Firms that conducted business for years in a closed economy without much pressure to innovate and to reduce costs, face insurmountable pressures to reinvent themselves. They cannot remain indifferent because their customers will be more demanding, their supply sources will be evolving as well as the competition becoming less forgiving. (continuará en la próxima edición de Letras Internacionales)*Dr. Christian Keen, Coordinador Académico de Finanzas FACS, Universidad ORT Uruguay
Este trabajo reúne cuatro proposiciones ensayadas a partir de un análisis crítico sobre el surgimiento, permanencia e impacto de las economías ilícitas en la actualidad. La primera tesis analiza la relación secuencial entre los conceptos de economía subterránea, economía ilícita y crimen organizado. La segunda examina las implicaciones económicas, históricas y políticas que simultáneamente conlleva este problema, a partir del surgimiento y consolidación del modo de producción capitalista. La tercera revisa la relación entre las economías ilícitas y la cooptación de poder para asegurarse el éxito empresarial en sus emprendimientos a partir de la división especializada del trabajo delictivo; y en la cuarta y última tesis se considera el impacto seguritario internacional de las economías ilícitas. ; This work brings together four propositions assayed from a critical analysis of the rise, permanence and impact of illegal economies in today's world. The first thesis analyzes the sequential relation between the concepts of underground economy, illegal economy and organized crime; the second examines the economic, historical and political implications which simultaneously carries this problem, from the rise and consolidation of the capitalist mode of production; the third reviews the relationship between illicit economies and the co-option of power for ensuring business success in your endeavors from the specialized division of criminal work; and the fourth and final thesis treats about international security impact of illicit economies.
La Nueva Geografía Económica es tomada como referente en esta tesis doctoral para profundizar en el concepto de la aglomeración industrial como fenómeno asociado a la localización de la actividad económica en el espacio. En primer lugar, se analiza el fenómeno del Home Market Effect (HME) en las manufacturas de las comunidades autónomas españolas de 1965 a 1995. Encontramos evidencia del mismo en cuatro de las nueve actividades industriales analizadas, evidencia que ha sido creciente a lo largo de la historia. En segundo lugar, hemos estudiado las externalidades productivas y su impacto sobre el crecimiento de la productividad. Contrastamos este crecimiento en la industria manufacturera de los países de la Unión Europea de 1995 a 2002, y lo hacemos depender de las externalidades pecuniarias y tecnológicas, interindustriales e intraindustriales, nacionales e internacionales. Los resultados muestran que junto con las dotaciones nacionales y una posición geográfica central, el crecimiento de la productividad se ve alentado por una especialización nacional e internacional y, además, es alimentada por los spillovers interindustriales. En tercer y último lugar, hemos estudiado a nivel teórico y de forma conjunta la presencia de una diferencia tecnológica sobre el HME. La existencia de esta diferencia aumenta la productividad y reduce el precio del bien al que afecta. Si coexiste con una ventaja comparativa refuerza los efectos del HME. Implica, además, un crecimiento de la renta del país en el que tiene lugar que desencadena un efecto de transmisión interindustrial de la localización. Por último, se produce una mejora del saldo comercial en ese país.
All of us that are concerned about the environment should ask if the increase in capital mobility associated with the world-wide process of liberalization, deregulation and privatization known as the Neo-liberal global regime has contributed to the problems of higher emissions, ozone layer destruction, and pollution of water sources, as well as to create false economic bubbles that lead to increase consumption in these regions and force the poor to destroy the environment in order to survive and cope with the roles their society demands. Neo-liberal practices such as those enforced in developing countries like Colombia, seeking to attract foreign investment to push their economies tend to generate a false aggregated demand growth, that in most cases is not sustainable in the long term, and thus high global unemployment, unleash destructive competitive processes, and weaken government's ability to regulate business in the citizens best interests. The forces of global Neo-liberalism are now so powerful that it has become difficult if not impossible for countries like Colombia to maintain non-Neo-liberal economic structures, in which countries are forced to deregulate FDI policies and receive inflows of capital no matter the terms and the objectives as long as it helps to maintain consumption levels.
All of us that are concerned about the environment should ask if the increase in capital mobility associated with the world-wide process of liberalization, deregulation and privatization known as the Neo-liberal global regime has contributed to the problems of higher emissions, ozone layer destruction, and pollution of water sources, as well as to create false economic bubbles that lead to increase consumption in these regions and force the poor to destroy the environment in order to survive and cope with the roles their society demands. Neo-liberal practices such as those enforced in developing countries like Colombia, seeking to attract foreign investment to push their economies tend to generate a false aggregated demand growth, that in most cases is not sustainable in the long term, and thus high global unemployment, unleash destructive competitive processes, and weaken government's ability to regulate business in the citizens best interests. The forces of global Neo-liberalism are now so powerful that it has become difficult if not impossible for countries like Colombia to maintain non-Neo-liberal economic structures, in which countries are forced to deregulate FDI policies and receive inflows of capital no matter the terms and the objectives as long as it helps to maintain consumption levels.
Governments of countries in crisis, especially in advanced economies seem to understand that the allocation of resources can not be left to market forces as the neo-classical liberalism argued that itself is the philosophical source of the process globalization. The intervention in the economy at the expense of incurring high deficit in some way contributed to the deepening recession is not more global. I think the severe recession scenarios of vulnerability in the advanced economies, such as in the financial sector and labor, which resulted in the closure of bank s loss of consumer confidence. Only North America together private spending reaches $ 6 billion, the contraction only 20% of this variable would represent a significant decline in Latin American countries that reach this market with its export. These results give a reading of dependency on Latin American economies to the volatility of the industrialized economies, countries whose volatility is immediately transmitted to the peripheral economies. The sensitivity of industrial economies has led to recede in their macroeconomic accounts, but contiavanzanued to lead the global economy, especially the United States whose contribution to global GDP on average reaches 23%, given this economic supremacy, financial and economic threads will be in charge of this country, so the Latin economies should adjust to global politics. Since there is no doubt that the United States, the unemployment rate approaches 10%, but always trump economic power. That is why any volatilization of this economy, together with the G20 and G7, the region would be violated. The symmetry between the advanced economies and those that are developing can be seen in all fields, financial and economic to political, but this does not imply that this region parallel progress in macroeconomic accounts, as does China and India that this trend continues, the latter two countries, along with other emerging economies come to dominate the world with a GDP would overtake the economies of developed countries. But no doubt that the revenue in the first world are better redistributed to companies whose earnings exceed the GDP largely poorer countries, this asymmetry is caused by the high concentration of wealth that is observed globally. The IMF argues that the economic recovery is underway and that the commodity-exporting economies will benefit, this position of the IMF is the clearest evidence that Latin American economies has to be well expected that industrialized countries have good economic performance, dependency theory does not explicitly indicated by this world body. There is no doubt that if the global economy advances, together with China, India and Russia, the raw material exporting countries in blue have their external accounts, but both economies will continue to live only on their comparative advantages, the scene of total instability. It is true that Latin American countries has had a slight release of the first world economies, yet there is a strong correlation between the advanced world and the region, which is why in 2009, which was the year where you felt greater global crisis, all Latin American countries experienced declines in their economic growth, except Peru, which had a slight growth below 1%. Finally it should be noted that asymmetries in the financial sector and economic development is a feature of the global economy, where the `advanced countries have the possibility of salvage operations equivalent to 4 times the GDP of a developing economy and also give license to save failing banks under the pretext of preventing the collapse of the global economy when we know that the correction of these gaps, passes through structural policies and global nature, where the asymmetries stop creating more room for vulnerability. ; Los gobiernos de los países en crisis, especialmente los de las economías avanzadas, parecen haber entendido que la asignación de los recursos no se pueden dejar a las leyes del mercado, tal como argumentaban los neoclásicos del liberalismo, que en sí es la fuente filosófica del proceso de globalización. La intervención en la economía a costa de incurrir en elevados déficit públicos, en cierta forma ha contribuido que la recesión no se profundice más a nivel global. La fuerte recesión creo escenarios de vulnerabilidad en las economías avanzadas, tales como en el sector financiero y laboral, que se tradujo en el cierre de bancos y la pérdida de confianza del consumidor. En Norteamérica el gasto de consuno privado llega a los 6 billones de dólares, sólo la contracción de un 20% de esta variable representaría una merma importante de los países latinoamericanos que llegan a este mercado con su producto de exportación. Estos resultados dan una lectura de dependencia de las economías latinoamericanas a las volatilidades de las economías industrializadas, países cuyas volatilidades, inmediatamente son transmitidas a las economías periféricas. La sensibilidad de las economías industriales ha originado que retrocedan en sus cuentas macroeconómicas, pero continúan liderando la economía global, especialmente Estados Unidos, cuyo aporte del PBI global llega en promedio al 23%, dada esta supremacía económica, los hilos financieros y económicos estarán al mando de este país, por lo que las economías latinoamericanas deberán ajustarse a su política global. Ya no existe duda de que en Estados Unidos, la tasa de desempleo se acercará al 10% , pero siempre primará su poder económico. Es por ello que por cualquier volatilización de esta economía, conjuntamente con los G20 o G7, la región se vería vulnerada. La simetría entre las economías avanzadas y las que están en vías de desarrollo se aprecia en todos los campos, financiero y económico hasta político, pero esto no implica que esta región avance paralelamente en su cuentas macroeconómicas, tal como lo hace China e India, de mantenerse esta tendencia, estos dos últimos países, conjuntamente con otros emergentes llegarían a dominar la economía mundial, con un PBI que superaría a las economías del primer mundo. Pero hay duda, que los ingresos en el primer mundo están mejor redistribuidos, con empresas, cuyas utilidades rebasan largamente el PBI de algunos países pobres, esta asimetría es producto de la alta concentración de la riqueza que se observa a nivel global. El FMI argumenta que el proceso de recuperación económica está en camino y que las economías exportadoras de materias primas se verán beneficiadas, esta posición del Fondo Monetario es la más clara evidencia que las economías latinoamericanas, para estar bien, tienen que esperar que los países industrializados tengan buenos resultados económicos, teoría de la dependencia no señalada explícitamente por este organismo mundial. No hay duda que, si la economía global avanza, conjuntamente con China , India y Rusia, los países exportadores de materias primas tendrían en azul sus cuentas externas, pero a la vez seguirán siendo economías que solo viven de sus ventajas comparativas, escenario de total inestabilidad. Es cierto que los países latinoamericanos han tenido un leve desenganche de las economías del primer mundo, pero aun es fuerte la correlación que existe entre el mundo avanzado y la región, es por ello que en el 2009, que fue el año donde se sintió con mayor grado la crisis global, todos los países latinoamericanos experimentaron descenso en sus crecimiento económico, excepto Perú, que tuvo un leve crecimiento por debajo del 1%. Por último, cabe señalar que las asimetrías en el sector financiero y económico son una característica de la economía global, donde los países avanzados tienen la posibilidad de realizar operaciones de salvataje equivalente a 4 veces el PBI de una economía en desarrollo y además se dan la licencia de salvar bancos en quiebra bajo el pretexto de evitar el colapso de la economía global, cuando sabemos que la corrección a estos desfases, pasa por aplicar políticas estructurales y de tipo global, donde las asimetrías dejen de crear mayores espacios de vulnerabilidad.
This article analyses the main features of the Latin American economic crisis as well as their effects on the integration process that is currently taking place among the Andean countries. The author sustains that the Andean region is going through a politically and economically fragile situation, one which could easily continue due to problems stemming from the American, European and Japanese economies. This fragility is considered as another sign of how the current economic model of growth is falling apart. The article also analyses the role that the multilateral and regional mechanisms could play on the Andean economies. ; Este artículo analiza los principales elementos de las crisis en América Latina y sus expresiones en la Comunidad Andina (CAN), enfatizando algunas repercusiones en el proceso de integración andina. El autor señala que los países miembros de la CAN presentan un cuadro de debilidad económica y de fragilidad política cuyas perspectivas parecen prolongarse afectadas por las dificultades que atraviesan otras economías como la norteamericana, europea o japonesa, lo que pone en evidencia el poco éxito del modelo económico imperante. Finalmente analiza el papel y las posibilidades de los mecanismos multilaterales y regionales sobre las economías andinas.
The Need for Re-examination of Industry Structure In rapidly changing and complex environment, the rate of change may be overwhelming. Communication within the firm is crucial to assess weaknesses and strength, make sense of the new developments and reconfigure resources to respond adequately. Firms may have to collaborate with other firms, both local and international, to secure the scarce resources that may enable them to compete with the international companies in a timely fashion as opposed to developing them internally. Such resource-acquisition may require learning the necessary know-how for acquiring and deploying the new technology, or gaining the capability for developing them with others, which may also give them additional intangibles such as collaborative advantages, reputation, brand name by association with others. The discussion suggests that smaller firms may seriously explore the option of becoming a part of a network (or networks) to attain the necessary requirements and accomplish their objectives, even though the costs may be high in the short-run; but they will enable increasing returns in the longer term. In this context, the resource-base view (RBV) of the firm provides a useful framework with which to identify valuable, rare, imperfectly inimitable and difficult to substitute resources (Barney, 1991). It also identifies the investments required to pursue international operations. However, the mere fact of identifying VRIN resources may prove insufficient to ensure competitiveness. The strategic process of renewal should emphasize resource reconfiguration, levering and deploying for catching-up with the international competition rather than mere resource selection as prescribed by the RBV. The focus not only should take into consideration the VRIN resources but also to include inimitable processes, transformation paths and positions that ensure SMEs' global competitiveness at the end, which also parallels the development of dynamic capabilities (Teece, Spence and Shuen, 1997) at the same time. The Augmenting Impact of Networks Smaller enterprises in emerging economies face major challenges in reinventing themselves rapidly and securing resources, which are further amplified due in part to the characteristics of emerging markets. Increasingly, networking is seen as a "primarily means of raising required for coordinating economic exchanges that fall in the continuum between market and hierarchies. Firms face increasing foreign competition in their domestic markets and the institutional inefficiencies that favor larger enterprises. In addition, they still do not have the requisite experience and industrial standards needed to expand into international markets. Joining, or operating through, a network can shield small firms as the network, as a whole, can be viewed as a larger firm in remedying, if not removing, some of constraints associated with the smaller and younger firms in terms of relative inexperience, limited flexibility, poor resources and capabilities . Regarding the necessary capability to navigate through macroeconomic and political fluctuations, or at times the unstable circumstances inherent in the emerging economies, Rauch argues that networks are different from markets because "their members are engaged in repeated exchanges that help sustain cooperation–collusion" and because "network members have thorough knowledge of each other's characteristics, which helps them match with each other or to refer each other to outside business opportunities" (Rauch, 200:1179). The ability to access, commercialize, and act as a broker of new resources, especially knowledge, is key to improving the competitive levels. In the case of RGEs, the concepts, and the associate practice, of social networks and the firm operating in a network are so intertwined in that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. At the individual level, the entrepreneurs, or the owner-manager, who is the critical resource and the driver of business activities, can draw upon his social network to further enable the firm. At the firm level, the individual linkages can reinforce firm-to-firm or firm-to-network linkages. Etemad and Ala-Mutka (2006) report that the entrepreneurs of the fastest-growing firms in Canada called upon their social networks to help reduce, and even remove, barriers facing them, especially at the earlier stages of their life, at both the individual and firm levels. In the emerging countries, however, the above concepts may assume a different shade. The ownership structure of SMEs in the emerging countries economies, as briefly discussed earlier, owner- managers are likely to be personally involved in most aspects of the operations of their firms. In particular, they tend to centralize important decisions and personally manage the relationships with the key players in their environment. Furthermore, SMEs from emerging markets have been insulated from international competition for a long period of time, which has affected the ways in which their managers conducted business. Neither were managers used to highly dynamic and competitive markets, nor were they familiar with collaborating with their international competitors. Consequently, such managers' perception of independence, individualism and trust plays important roles in their decisions in becoming a member of a particular network. However, their personal ties not only may increase the social capital of the networks, it may also reduce the likelihood of opportunistic behaviors, leading to increased cooperative and collaborative behaviours among individuals and their associated firms over time; but such personal ties are likely to be more national than international. Even those who act as brokers in enlarging the SMEs' opportunity set by creating exchange and sharing information among contacts can benefit from the flow of useful information. Such cooperative relations may enable SMEs to reduce, and even remove, the adverse impact of restricted access to information regarding markets standards, international tax systems, international market opportunities, demand and supply condition, among others, which help to compensate for the lower levels of institutional development in emerging economies. According to Burt (1992: 65), the existence of a "relationship of non-redundancy between two contacts" creates social capital for the actor who is able to link up with network member that possesses complementary resources. These discussions suggest that even redundant contacts can benefit firms as they can provide several benefits: a) increase the political leverage of firms at home, b) overcome institutional and managerial constraints, c) increase the SMEs' leverage in input markets and output markets and also d) facilitate SMEs' access to managerial experience and capabilities available in the network. Bridging the Widening Gap between the Developed and Emerging Economies As discussed earlier, technological innovation is taking place at unprecedented rate. A large part of such innovation is path-dependent by nature as they are the results of firm's long-term research and development (R&D), investment and commitments to cutting-edge knowledge and advancing technology for improving upon their knowledge-based assets, productivity, competitiveness and the consequent economic growth. This is in part a way to respond to the increased competition resulting from globalization, pro-market reforms and open-door policies, among others, which are demanding higher productivity and competitiveness from firms and countries alike. No one is immune: the more competitive and productive firms and countries gain higher market share at the cost to those who are less efficient. Firms and countries are subject to a lot of similar external pressures forcing them to experience instability and flux, continuous emergence and rapid change, and overall uncertainty; but they emanate from different sources and forces. For example, firms face the dynamics of rapidly-changing relations with both the external and internal stake-holders, which have their own motivations beyond the firm's control. Similarly, the relative state of flux and instability is inherent in the change and emergence of complexity in the emerging countries due to the ongoing dynamics of global trade and investment not fully controllable by any given country, or firm, regardless of size and stage of development. However, RGEs have shown the capability and resilience in adapting to enable their growth. RGEs are also characterized by having entrepreneurial mindset, being market-oriented and adapting technology to meet their buyers' and suppliers' needs. They are learning organization in the sense that they constantly acquire, disseminate, and share both the information and its interpretation (Sinkula, 1994) with the final goal of sustaining growth in the long term. Furthermore, there is a common recognition that their growth depends on synergistic collaboration with the member of their supply and value chain. As discussed earlier, RGEs and emerging economies share relatively constrained resources and need to secure them to pursue their activities by devising innovative ways such as becoming a part of synergistic networks (Etemad 2004; Etemad, Dana and Wright 2001a), which forces a trade-offs between independent and interdependent modes of operations for securing access to vital resources to enable further growth. The added advantage of such networks is the possibility of learning from and with others through association as the rapid rate of change, emergence and complexity may not allow a firm or a country or learning by doing. Therefore, the above discussion suggests that RGEs not only are attractive models, and even instruments, for closing the gap between emerging economies, they can also grow faster than typical firms in their respective industries for augmenting growth-rates all around them. We have taken advantage of these similarities to propose a conceptual framework for the emerging economies to deploy, and learn from, RGE-like instruments to speed-up the emerging economies' growth rate. This framework is highlighted in Figure 1.Figure 1 Key Characteristics of Rapid Growing Enterprises and Emerging Economies Conclusion In light of characteristics describe in this paper, the necessary condition for a SME to ensure long-term success in international activities is to aim their sights high, transform their organizational structures for responding to challenges ahead and attain the resources required for expanding to international markets at high rates and on sustained basis. It is also crucial that SMEs expand their knowledge base to meet world-class requirements and standards. Naturally, governments can play crucial roles in at least three influential fronts directly aimed at improving upon firms' productivity, competitiveness and internationalization: a) providing adequate education aimed at the basic tools to face the competitiveness and deal with the complexity of a global economy; b) putting infrastructural support systems in place to facilitate SMEs' transition towards networked firms at home and abroad; and c) Instituting transitional subsidies and inducements for SMEs to transform towards knowledge-based assets and increasing internationalization. Although the higher levels of education allow firm managers and investors to draw resources from a pool of qualified individuals and may also increase the likelihood of transforming inventions into innovations, which is another pillar of success in the international market, it takes some time and effort and will only pay-back in the medium to longer-term; but it needs to be done sooner than later, nevertheless. Similarly, infrastructural support systems are the necessary longer-term investments. However, inducements may be very effective in terms of time and costs as well as initiating an emulative process with high and rapid multiplier effects across the population of firms. The sample of RGEs studied in this paper were young, small, pioneering and innovative firms that commercialized innovations not existing before and thus created incremental employment, income and additional wealth as opposed to resulting from shift in investments. Stated in popular terms, the RGEs presented in this paper enlarged the size of previously non-existing pie as opposed to increasing the size of the wedge of the pie at the cost to others. More importantly, their pioneering efforts set the standards for others to be emulated, thus diffusing the innovation in the allied industry. Stated differently, they rapidly constructed a bridge across barriers to unexplored landscapes that enabled further developments. From a country-level perspective, rapidly-growing enterprise may provide a viable model with an important role to play in rapid income- and wealth-creation. They may even have an important short-term impact on the economic growth of emerging economies while shifting the SMEs' emphasis is shifting from short-term aim of reaching profitability to attaining global competitiveness as soon as possible, which is the necessary condition for sustained growth in employment, revenue, income, tax-base and wealth. The distinction is noteworthy: the former is influenced by the local and short-term orientation of the investors and managers to see results, and probably exit, as quickly as possible; as opposed to international and longer orientation in the latter that invests for the long haul and expanded international opportunities, which reflects the operations of RGEs. By favoring the development of the latter-type of firms, governments will also develop an interesting policy instrument for both creating income and employment much more rapidly than the traditional models, while encouraging modernization in the industry and enhancing long-term competitiveness of the economy. The spill-over effects of RGE-type of operations should have a positive impact on the rest of the economy not only in terms of relatively-faster diffusion of knowledge, technology, best managerial practice and information about new market opportunities; but also on improve the subjective "business environment" of a country at a higher pace and in shorter time period. The demonstrative impact of such virtuous operations may even expand to the rest of the supply chain with a snowballing effect in the rest of the economy in term of improved quality-standards on the input side (e.g. intermediate goods, labor force, etc.) first and soon expanding to the entire economy. References Ala-Mutka, Jukka & Etemad, Hamid, (2006). The Strategies of Global Gazelles: A Theoretical Framework and Evidence from Rapidly Growing and Internationalizing Enterprises from Canada, in Johansson, I. (ed.), Entrepreneurship and Development Local Pro33cesses and Global Patterns, University of West Press, Sweden. 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