Institutional Quality and Economic Growth in Latin America

The purpose of this paper is to relate total factor productivity to the problem of economic growth in Latin America. Slow economic growth has been the most important problem in the modern history of the region. The paper extensively reviews the literature on the determinants of economic growth in Latin America and shows that the slow growth of total factor productivity (TFP) seems to be the primary problem. Further, this problem is linked to the quality of institutions in the region. Unfortunately, the concept of institutional quality is very difficult to define in a meaningful way. This affects public policy towards economic growth in the region. Finally, it is shown that the problem that has been identified may be crucial for Latin America but the region is hardly unique in this regard.