The Political Economy of Institutional Change and Economic Development in Latin American Economies

This inquiry explores crises facing developmental states in Latin America related to their national strategies for economic growth. Some patterns commonly associated with an import substitution strategy are argued to be rooted in structural and institutional variables related to an abundance of natural resources. However, with the demise of national development strategies after the 1980s, external and internal efforts and measures stemming from big business and financial capital challenged the developmental state. During the 1990s countries in Latin and South America followed similar patterns toward financial integration. Failures related to this recent strategy opened space for a new development policy.