The Analytical Framework of this Book

Abstract

The discussion in the first three chapters of this book demonstrated that the different socioeconomic groups (government, public enterprises, companies, households and banks) have followed different adjustment patterns, in reaction to the external shocks and policies. The fluctuating pattern followed by capital inflows and by the country's terms-of-trade throughout the last two decades and a half, and the stabilization policies and structural reforms implemented, affected each of the groups in a different fashion. Very often, the policies were designed to change the behavioural rules of a specific agent (for example, the popular participation reform, the reforms to the financial system and the capitalization of public enterprises). The various adjustment patterns followed by groups have determined the direction of adjustment at the macroeconomic level. Thus, macroeconomic adjustment in Bolivia has been the outcome of sectoral adjustments and of the interactions among the different agents through the diverse markets in which they operate.