Time and Space: Latin American Regional Development in Historical Perspective (Palgrave Studies in Economic History)

"This edited collection examines the evolution of regional inequality in Latin America in the long run. The authors support the hypothesis that the current regional disparities are principally the result of a long and complex process in which historical, geographical, economic, institutional, and political factors have all worked together. Lessons from the past can aid current debates on regional inequalities, territorial cohesion, and public policies in developing and also developed countries. In contrast with European countries, Latin American economies largely specialized in commodity exports, showed high levels of urbanization and high transports costs (both domestic and international). This new research provides a new perspective on the economic history of Latin American regions and offers new insights on how such forces interact in peripheral countries. In that sense, natural resources, differences in climatic conditions, industrial backwardness and low population density areas leads us to a new set of questions and tentative answers. This book brings together a group of leading American and European economic historians in order to build a new set of data on historical regional GDPs for nine Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. This transnational perspective on Latin American economic development process is of interest to researchers, students and policy makers."-- Provided by publisher Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 Notes on Contributors 11 List of Figures 17 List of Tables 21 List of Maps 23 Chapter 1: Introduction: Time, Space and Economics in the History of Latin America 25 1 Motivation 25 2 Contents 29 3 Highlights, Stylized Facts and a Brief Discussion 35 References 38 Chapter 2: Comparing Different Estimation Methodologies of Regional GDPs in Latin American Countries 40 1 Introduction 40 2 A Brief Overview of Latin American Official Estimates 42 3 The Historical Reconstitution of Subnational GDP: Methods and Sources 45 3.1 Bottom-Up or Direct Approach 48 3.1.1 Direct Estimates Based on Production 48 3.1.2 Direct Approach Based on Income 49 3.1.3 Direct Approach Based on Expenditure 51 3.2 Top-Down or Indirect Approach 51 3.2.1 Top-Down Non-Parametric Approaches 52 3.2.2 Top-Down Parametric Approach 57 4 Concluding Remarks 59 References 61 Chapter 3: Productive and Regional Development Policies in Latin America Since 1890 64 1 Introduction 64 2 The Big Long-Run Picture 65 3 Latin America: One and Many 68 4 State Policies During the First Globalization Boom and Their Impact on Regional Development 70 5 State-Led Growth: Strategies and Policies and Their Impact on Regional Development 73 6 Structural Reforms and the Reactions Against Them: Recent Regional Development Policies 80 7 Concluding Remarks 84 References 86 Chapter 4: Growth and Convergence Among Argentine Provinces Since 1895 88 1 Introduction 88 2 The Economic Evolution of Argentina Since 1895 91 3 New Data: Methodology and Descriptive Analysis 94 4 Long-Term Patterns of Regional Inequality 99 5 Conclusions: Forces Behind Regional Inequality 112 References 114 Chapter 5: From West to East: Bolivian Regional GDPs since the 1950s. A Story of Natural Resources and Infrastructure 119 1 Introduction 119 2 Regional Growth in Bolivia Since Independence 122 3 The Estimation of Bolivian Regional GDPs 128 4 The Relative Importance of Bolivian Regions, 1950–2017 132 5 Conclusions 147 References 148 Chapter 6: The Evolution of Regional Income Inequality in Brazil, 1872–2015 152 1 Introduction 152 2 Historical Background 155 3 Data Sources and Methodology 161 4 Regional Income Inequality in the Long Run 162 5 Discussion and Conclusion 171 Appendix: Correspondence Between Present-Day States and Historical Regional Units 174 References 175 Chapter 7: Spatial Inequality in Chile in the Long Run: A Paradox of Extreme Concentration in the Absence of Agglomeration Forces (1890–2017) 178 1 Introduction 178 2 From Nitrate Cycle to the Commodity Boom in the Early Twenty-First Century 181 3 Estimation of the Chilean Provincial GDP for the Period 1890–1973 184 4 Regional GDP Evolution in Chile in the Long Run: 1890–2010 187 5 Conclusions 199 References 200 Chapter 8: Regional Economic Inequality in Colombia, 1926–2018 204 1 Introduction 204 2 Historical Background 207 3 New Data: Descriptive Analysis 212 4 Stylized Facts and Analysis 223 5 Conclusions 227 References 228 Chapter 9: Regional GDP in Mexico, 1895–2010 232 1 Introduction 232 2 Data and Sources 238 3 Regional Growth in Mexico 242 4 Conclusions 255 References 257 Chapter 10: Peruvian Regional Inequality: 1847–2017 261 1 Introduction 261 2 Historical Background 263 3 Long-Term Patterns of Regional Income Inequality: Sources and Methods 268 4 Long-Term Patterns of Regional Income Inequality: New Data and Stylized Facts 273 4.1 Regional Inequality 274 4.2 Regional Convergence 276 5 The Forces Behind Regional Inequality in Peru 281 6 Conclusions 286 References 288 Chapter 11: Patterns of Regional Income Distribution in Uruguay (1872–2012): A Story of Agglomeration, Natural Resources and Public Policies 290 1 Introduction 290 2 Historical Background 294 3 GDP Estimates at the Province Level: Sources and Methods 300 4 Results: Stylized Facts of Regional Income Distribution in Uruguay 304 4.1 Montevideo: A Suction Pump? 304 4.2 Regional Inequality: A Convergence Story? 306 4.3 Persistence, Mobility, Reversals of Fortune and Other Stories 307 4.4 The Changing Economic Geography of Uruguay 312 5 What Explains the Evolution of Regional Inequality over Time? 315 References 321 Chapter 12: Was the Oil Sown Evenly? Long-Term Patterns of Regional Inequality in Venezuela (1881–2011) 327 1 Introduction 327 2 Historical Background 330 3 Long-Term Patterns of Regional Income Inequality: Sources and Methods 337 4 Long-Term Patterns of Regional Income Inequality: New Data and Stylized Facts 340 5 The Forces Behind Regional Inequality in Venezuela 353 Bibliography 357 Primary Sources 358 Chapter 13: Spatial Inequality in Latin America (1895–2010): Convergence and Clusters in a Long-Run Approach 360 1 Introduction 360 2 Regional Inequality in Latin America: A Long-Run Approach 364 3 Convergence and Divergence of Latin American Regions 372 4 The Emergence of Regional Clubs in Latin America 381 5 Conclusions 388 References 390 Chapter 14: Regional Inequality in Latin America: Does It Mirror the European Pattern? 392 1 Introduction 392 2 Long-Term Patterns of Regional Inequality in Europe and Latin America: The Data Set 397 3 Long-Term Patterns of Regional Inequality in Europe and Latin America: Descriptive Evidence 400 4 The Relationship Between Regional Inequality and Economic Growth: Econometric Analysis 407 5 Discussion 412 References 416 Index 420