Trade Liberalization and Productive Efficiency: The Chilean Industry, 1975-1988

Authors

  • Rafael Agacino Programa de Economía del Trabajo (PET)
  • Gonzalo Rivas Programa de Economía del Trabajo (PET)
  • Enrique Román Programa de Economía del Trabajo (PET)

Keywords:

trade liberalization, productive efficiency, total factor productivity, industrial sector, technical change, Chile

Abstract

The results of Chile's profound economic liberalizations remain the subject of ongoing debate. Using the Total Factor Productivity approach (TFP), we review the industrial sector performance during the 1975-1988 period. Our analysis shows that greater competitiveness dictated by economic liberalization was not accomplished through technical change but, rather, through intensive factor use (1976-81), or extensive factor use (1984-88). After exhaustion of the "easy phase", new levels of productive efficiency necessitated technical innovation, that is, investment in equipment, training, and reorganization of productive processes. However, after the 1982-83 crisis, firms did not follow this path: previous financial stress and low wage costs determined a growth path based on extensive use of labor, thereby delaying technological modernization of the industrial sector.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Agacino, R. (1991). Evolución económica reciente de los sectores textil y del vestuario: 1986-1990. PET.

Agacino, R., Rivas, G., & Román, E. (1992). Apertura y eficiencia productiva: La experiencia chilena, 1975-1989 (Documento de Trabajo N.º 113). BID.

Balassa, B. (1978). Exports and economic growth: Further evidence. Journal of Development Economics, 5(2), 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3878(78)90006-8

Balassa, B. (1985). Exports, policy choice and economic growth in developing countries after the 1973 oil shock. Journal of Development Economics, 18(1), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3878(85)90004-5

Banco Central de Chile. (1990). Matriz de insumo-producto de la economía chilena, 1986.

Cerón, I. (1990). Estudio de inversión sectorial. Proyecto de Mejoramiento y Ampliación del Sistema de Cuentas Nacionales, Banco Mundial-Banco Central de Chile.

Christensen, L. (1980). Recent developments in the economic theory of index number: Discussion. American Economic Review, 70(2).

Delfino, J. A. (1988). Cambios en la productividad y estrategia de crecimiento: El caso argentino durante el período 1955-1973. El Trimestre Económico, 55(218).

Díaz, A. (1989, julio). Reestructuración industrial autoritaria. Proposiciones, (17). SUR.

Diewert, W. (1980). Capital and the theory of productivity measurement. American Economic Review, 70(2).

Duhart, S., Echeverría, M., & Larraín, C. (1985). Cambios en la industria gráfica: Trabajo, economía y sindicalización (Colección Estudios Sectoriales N.º 1). PET.

Feder, G. (1983). On exports and economic growth. Journal of Development Economics, 12(1-2), 59–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3878(83)90031-7

Ffrench-Davis, R. (1980). Liberalización de importaciones: La experiencia chilena en 1973-1980. Colección Estudios CIEPLAN, (4).

Ffrench-Davis, R. (1982). El experimento monetarista en Chile: Una síntesis crítica. Colección Estudios CIEPLAN, (9).

Flishow, A. (1985). The state of Latin American economics. In Economic and social progress in Latin America: Annual report. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.

Frías, P., et al. (1987). Industria textil y del vestuario en Chile (Colección Estudios Sectoriales N.º 4, Vol. 3). PET.

Gatica, J., & Pollack, M. (1986). Fuentes de cambio en la estructura del sector industrial chileno: 1967-1982. Estudios de Economía, 13.

Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas. (s. f.). Industrias manufactureras, 1974-1988.

Lal, D., & Rajatapirana, S. (1987). Foreign trade regimes and economic growth in developing countries. The World Bank Research Observer, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/2.2.189

McCarthy, F., Taylor, L., & Talatti, C. (1987). Trade patterns in developing countries: 1964-1982. Journal of Development Economics, 27(1-2). https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3878(87)90004-6

Meller, P. (1990). Revisión del proceso de ajuste chileno de la década del 80. Colección Estudios CIEPLAN, (30).

Meller, P., Livacic, E., & Arrau, P. (1984). Una revisión del milagro económico chileno: 1976-1981. Colección Estudios CIEPLAN, (15).

Ocampo, J. A. (1986). New developments in trade theory and LDCs. Journal of Development Economics, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3878(86)90054-4

ODEPLAN. (s. f.). Matriz de insumo-producto de la economía chilena: 1977.

Rivas, G. (1988). La contrarrevolución neoliberal en el desarrollo económico: Un análisis crítico [Mémoire de maîtrise en sciences économiques]. Universidad Católica de Lovaina.

Tyler, W. (1981). Growth and export expansion in developing countries. Journal of Development Economics, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3878(81)90007-9

Downloads

Published

1993-10-31

How to Cite

Agacino, R., Rivas, G., & Román, E. (1993). Trade Liberalization and Productive Efficiency: The Chilean Industry, 1975-1988. Economic Analysis Review, 8(2), 93–121. Retrieved from https://www.rae-ear.org/index.php/rae/article/view/213

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (1993)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 1993 Rafael Agacino, Gonzalo Rivas, Enrique Román

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Article usage

ViewsTimes this article's page was opened since the journal started recording statistics. One person can visit more than once.
117
DownloadsTimes the full text of this article (usually the PDF) was opened or downloaded.
179

All time, as recorded by the journal.

Last 2 years: 47 views, 110 downloads.

1.53 downloads per view (journal average 1.65).Downloads of the full text for every abstract view of this article, compared with the whole journal.

Explore the journal's metrics