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The Particular Colombian Case in Latin America: A Singular Path with the Same Results

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Book cover Colombia’s Slow Economic Growth

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History ((PEHS))

Abstract

Despite similarities with other countries in the Latin America, Colombia’s trajectory to development has been unique. If we need to oversimplify why the main Latin American countries do not yet have advanced economies, the short answer would be: deep and frequent economic depressions. If Colombia did not experience a depression since 1903, why did not this country do better?

Colombia’s problem is that it historically grew driven by input factors (capital and labour) accumulation rather than by productivity, which has remained stagnant for long periods. Productivity growth has depended on countries’ capacity to embrace technological progress. This book analyses how Colombia missed three technological waves of the last three centuries: steam, mass production, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and compares it with Argentina, Mexico, and Chile, respectively.

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References

  • Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. (2001). The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation. The American Economic Review, 91(5), 1369–1401.

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  • Maddison Project Database, Version 2018. Bolt, Jutta, Robert Inklaar, Herman de Jong and Jan Luiten van Zanden. (2018). Rebasing ‘Maddison’: New Income Comparisons and the Shape of Long-Run Economic Development. Retrieved from https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2018

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Correspondence to Ivan Luzardo-Luna .

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Luzardo-Luna, I. (2019). The Particular Colombian Case in Latin America: A Singular Path with the Same Results. In: Colombia’s Slow Economic Growth. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25755-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25755-2_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25754-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25755-2

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

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