Paper #873

Title:

Capital goods imports and investments in Latin America in the mid 1920s

Authors:

Xavier Tafunell and Albert Carreras

Date:

June 2005

Abstract:

The assessment of Latin American long term economic performance is in urgent need of mobilizing more data to match the pressing demands of growth analysts. We present a systematic comparison of capital goods imports for 20 Latin American countries in 1925. It relies on both the foreign trade data of the importing countries and of the major exporting countries –the industrialized economies of the time. The quality of foreign trade figures is tested; an homogeneous estimate of capital goods imported is derived, and its per capita ranking is discussed providing new light on Latin American development levels before import substitution.

Keywords:

Latin America, capital goods, imports, investment, foreign trade, economic development

JEL codes:

N16, N66, N76

Area of Research:

Economic and Business History

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