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Volume 57 / Social Sciences

ECONOMICS: COLOMBIA


NOHRA REY DE MARULANDA, Manager of Integration and Regional Programs Department, Inter-American Development Bank


FOLLOWING AN ESTABLISHED TREND, discussions of the fundamental economic reforms of the last decade, particularly those related to the external sector, continue to dominate the economic literature of Latin America. This is certainly true for Colombia as the works reviewed for HLAS 57 amply demonstrate; approximately one-third of the works annotated examine economic reforms.

Several works, for example, assess the impact of liberalization or “apertura” on the agricultural sector (items bi 95023536, bi 95023511, and bi 95023570). Various other works examine the end of the International Coffee Agreement, analyzing the affect on coffee exports and the sector in general (items bi 95023545, bi 95023532, and bi 95023503). In keeping with the Colombian tradition of prudent macroeconomic management and fiscal discipline, many works reviewed this biennium anticipate the Cusiana oil boom, and propose policies to avoid a case of “Dutch Disease” (items bi 95002386, bi 95023546 and bi 95023509). A small number of articles study the relatively unexplored topics of women’s employment (items bi 94008583, bi 94008585, and bi 94008589) and child labor (item bi 96004223).

As noted in previous HLAS volumes, analyses of the impact of the narcotics trade on the Colombian economy and society continue to have a surprisingly small place in the literature of the field. Although given mention in several works, only one book reviewed this biennium is dedicated to an exploration the Colombian narcotics trade (item bi 95023530).

Finally, it seems once again necessary to remark on the paucity of theoretical works, the limited number of studies by non-Colombian authors, and the concentration of well-conceived articles within a very limited number of journals.


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