Information Technologies and Economic Development in Latin America provides a collection of rigorous empirical studies that contributes to a better understanding of the role and impact of old and new information technologies on Latin American economic development. It provides evidence using randomized and quasi-experimental designed studies for different information and communication technologies interventions. In evaluating their development impact a critical concern has been to contribute to the little existing evidence. In fact, whereas many ICT projects in the developing world have been promoted by multilateral organizations, bilateral aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations in recent years, the extent to which these interventions and policies actually contribute to the development of the region is unclear. The book provides evidence on what works and what does not.

This book is the fruit of the research ECLAC has amassed, with ten chapters detailing the great strides that have been made of late in ICT. A distinguishing feature of this book is its multi-disciplinary approach to measuring the economic effects of these technologies, which incorporates the neo-classical growth accounting approach and the evolutionarystructuralistapproach. These approaches are noteworthy because, much like the primary message of ECLAC, they exemplify the pivotal importance of technical progress, productivity and structural transformation in economic growth. Innovation and Economic Development identifies several opportunities and challenges for bringing about a more dynamic role of ICT in the process of structural change and productivity growth and contends that accelerating the adoption and efficient use of ICT is essential to any strategy for further success.

Development Connections takes stock of recent advances in what is broadly known as Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The authors seek to discover how information and telecommunication technologies affect both the public and private sectors in Latin America and how they can optimize ICT returns to society.

This volume focuses on the hyper-mediatization of Latin America from the citizen’s perspective, considering the social impact and how people embrace information technologies to improve their living conditions, engage in political issues and the role of digital journalism in promoting democratic values in Latin America. The book is divided into three parts: ‘Digital Media and Daily Life in Latin America’ explores cases related to the integration of digital media such as mobile devices, social platforms and, even, drones to diverse commercial, private and social activities. ‘Information technologies and civic engagement’ gives special attention to the new political practices triggered by the irruption of smartphones and platforms, especially inside organizations and social movements in Latin America. ‘Journalism and Media Integrity in the Age of Post-truth’ centers on the study of digital journalism and the new media landscape, and related issues like precarization of labor conditions and the crisis of reliability in media. This second volume in a two volume set will be important reading for scholars and students of social use of digital media in Latin America, civic engagement, and the connections between politics, journalism and technology.

This book analyses the arrival of emerging and traditional information and technology for public and economic use in Latin America. It focuses on the governmental, economic and security issues and the study of the complex relationship between citizens and government. The book is divided into three parts: • ‘Digital data and privacy, prospects and barriers’ centers on the debates among the right of privacy and the loss of intimacy in the Internet, • ‘Homeland security and human rights’ focuses on how novel technologies such as drones and autonomous weapons systems reconfigure the strategies of police authorities and organized crime, • ‘Labor Markets, digital media and emerging technologies’ emphasize the legal, economic and social perils and challenges caused by the increased presence of social media, blockchain-based applications, artificial intelligence and automation technologies in the Latin American economy. This first volume in a two volume set will be important reading for scholars and students of governance in Latin American, the protection of human rights and the use of technology to combat crime and the new advances of digital economy in the region.

While adoption of new technologies is understood to enhance long-term growth and average per-capita incomes, its impact on lower-skilled workers is more complex and merits clarification. Concerns abound that advanced technologies developed in high-income countries would inexorably lead to job losses of lower-skilled, less well-off workers and exacerbate inequality. Conversely, there are countervailing concerns that policies intended to protect jobs from technology advancement would themselves stultify progress and depress productivity. This book squarely addresses both sets of concerns with new research showing that adoption of digital technologies offers a pathway to more inclusive growth by increasing adopting firms’ outputs, with the jobs-enhancing impact of technology adoption assisted by growth-enhancing policies that foster sizable output expansion. The research reported here demonstrates with economic theory and data from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico that lower-skilled workers can benefit from adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies biased towards skilled workers, and often do. The inclusive jobs outcomes arise when the effects of increased productivity and expanding output overcome the substitution of workers for technology. While the substitution effect replaces some lower-skilled workers with new technology and more highly-skilled labor, the output effect can lead to an increase in the total number of jobs for less-skilled workers. Critically, output can increase sufficiently to increase jobs across all tasks and skill types within adopting firms, including jobs for lower-skilled workers, as long as lower-skilled task content remains complementary to new technologies and related occupations are not completely automated and replaced by machines. It is this channel for inclusive growth that underlies the power of pro-competitive enabling policies and institutions—such as regulations encouraging firms to compete and policies supporting the development of skills that technology augments rather than replaces—to ensure that the positive impact of technology adoption on productivity and lower-skilled workers is realized.

This book examines the implementation of science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in eight Latin American countries and the different paths these policies have taken. It provides empirical evidence to examine the extent to which STI policies are contributing to the development of the region, as well as to the solution of market failures and the stimulus of the region’s innovation systems. Since the pioneering work of Solow (1957), it has been recognized that innovation is critical for economic growth both in developed and in less-developed countries. Unfortunately Latin America lags behind world trends, and although over the last 20 years the region has established a more stable and certain macroeconomic regime, it is also clear that these changes have not been enough to trigger a process of innovation and productivity to catch-up. Against this rather grim scenario there is some optimism emerging throughout the region. After many years of inaction the region has begun to invest in science, technology and engineering once again. Furthermore, after many changes in innovation policy frameworks, there is now an emerging consensus on the need for a solution to coordination failures that hinder the interaction between supply and demand. Offering an informative and analytic insight into STI policymaking within Latin America, this book can be used by students, researchers and practitioners who are interested in the design and implementation of innovation policies. This book also intends to encourage discussion and collaboration amongst current policy makers within the region.