Modeling Public Policies In Latin America And The Caribbean

In an increasingly integrated world where the pace of change is accelerating, policy decisions need to be taken with little hesitation. However, their development effectiveness requires that they are also based on solid analytical foundations. Given the existence of information asymmetries and coordination failures, multilateral development institutions have an opportunity to support their member countries in the assessment of policies that require complex background analysis, particularly when their effects spill over beyond the border of any given country. In this context the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have formed a partnership to promote a regional network of computable general equilibrium (CGE) modellers that facilitates the exchange of analytical findings, techniques and data, with the ultimate objective of better serving policy makers in policy formulation. The regional meetings of CGE modellers, held annually in a different country of the region, have been instrumental in promoting intraregional transfer of analytical technologies and in bringing the region closer to international best practices. This book includes a selection of studies discussed in past annual meetings on modelling. They deal with issues such as trade policy, regional integration, trade in services, fiscal policy, the impact of food price surges and climate change; are based on comparable methodologies; and shed light on crucial implications of crucial policy alternatives that Latin American regional policymakers are currently facing.