Archivos: Repositorios

Central America has often been described as a mosaic—a mixture of different cultures and viewpoints in a small area of just 201,497 square meters. It has experienced internal wars, financial turmoil, and developmental challenges during its history, and it now faces a new challenge: recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. Moving forward, maintaining financial stability will be a pressing task for Central American governments so that they may meet the needs of their populations and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Faced with institutional competition, accelerated by the process of globalization, countries
have basically two options: participate in it and get their benefits or isolate themselves
and be left aside. With a few exceptions, Latin American countries have not been able to
cope with competition and are lagging behind. In this article an attempt will be made to
evaluate the quality of Latin American institutions in terms of macroeconomic stability
and the rule of law through the building of a composite index called “Institutional
Quality Index”, averaging together indexes evaluating economic and political issues,
trying to capture the essence of institutional arrangements that have allowed countries
to progress and showing whether Latin America’s institutions are able to compete in the
world arena.
It will be concluded that small countries, such as Chile and some islands on the
Caribbean and Central America, get better qualifications than larger countries in the
region. This may be explained by the fact that their size forces them to be open economies
where contracts and property rights are enforced, since their economies would not be
self-sustainable if closed.
Also, the “heritage” of legal systems such as the British “common law” shows that
some countries could get a better performance of justice as shown by, for example, the
high qualifications of some Caribbean countries as compared to others in Latin America
that inherited the legal systems of Spain or Portugal. A few recommendations follow.

Success in today’s globalized business environment requires deep knowledge of varied areas, and the willingness to engage in commerce not just across geographic areas, but cross-culturally and environmentally as well. Doing Business in Latin America offers an in-depth look at a complex region, integrating practitioners’ and scholars’ ideas to examine business conducted in Latin America through the lens of international business and globalization.
The book introduces, discusses, and explains in detail the historical, economic, cultural, political, and technological impacts of globalization and business conduct in Latin American countries. It also considers the contemporary business environment of the area, looking at how current country and regional factors have affected the process of starting and operating businesses. Finally, it looks forward to the emerging trends that portend the future of business in these countries.
With its combination of contemporary analysis and historical discussion, this book is a vital tool to all scholars and practitioners with an interest in the opportunities offered by the current Latin American business environment.

Purpose – the purpose of this academic paper is to analyze Argentina’s inflationary situation through an understanding of its monetary policy over the years, and to identify its effect on the country’s poverty, explaining the relationship between fiat currencies and stable currencies.
Methodological design and approach – by analyzing the case of Argentina through descriptive methodology, the authors provide information on the use of stable currencies in Argentina and the reasons behind their use.
Findings – Through descriptive research, the authors were able to find out the situation regarding the use of stable currencies in Argentina. We identified how the country’s monetary policy has affected inflation and thus purchasing power parity.
Originality/Value – Discussion of cryptocurrency items, specifically stablecoins, has been limited due to their recent emergence and the existing discussion about their legality. The study presents an argument on the use of stablecoins by presenting a case that has not yet been studied.

This study researches how the arbitrariness and pervasiveness of corruption affect the decision-making process and subsequent operations of firms investing in highly corrupt host locations. The results of the analysis demonstrate that firms headquartered in countries where corruption is high have an advantage when operating in a foreign country with a similar institutional environment. The reason for this advantage is that these firms possess knowledge of how to cope with the arbitrary and pervasive dimensions of corruption. Firms from countries with lower corruption levels than the host country, however, are more affected by corruption in a highly corrupt host country. Finally, though this study finds evidence that all firms operating in a highly corrupt country might participate in corrupt deals, those headquartered in highly corrupt countries are more likely to be willing to do so. This claim is based on 12 in-depth interviews with managers with FDI allocation responsibilities of firms operating in a highly corrupt host country. The results show that firms from less corrupt countries face stronger pressures from their headquarters to not engage in corrupt deals, whereas firms from more corrupt countries do not encounter such pressures.

This book provides both conceptual knowledge of quantitative finance and a hands-on approach to using Python. It begins with a description of concepts prior to the application of Python with the purpose of understanding how to compute and interpret results. This book offers practical applications in the field of finance concerning Python, a language that is more and more relevant in the financial arena due to big data. This will lead to a better understanding of finance as it gives a descriptive process for students, academics and practitioners.

This study researched how corruption affects the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI). With the help of a qualitative methodology, the results of the analysis show that firms headquartered in countries where corruption is high have an advantage when operating in a foreign country with a similar institutional environment. The reason for this advantage is that such firms may possess knowledge of how to cope with the arbitrary and pervasive dimensions of corruption at home. On the other hand, firms from countries with lower corruption levels than the host country are more affected by corruption in a highly corrupt host country. Finally, even though this study found evidence that all firms operating in a highly corrupt country might participate in corrupt deals, those headquartered in highly corrupt countries are more willing to do so. This claim is based on the fact that firms from less corrupt countries might face stronger pressures from their headquarters to not engage in corrupt deals, whereas firms from more corrupt countries might not encounter such pressures.

The 2020–2021 review of the ECB strategy will shape monetary policy in the Eurozone in the years to come. Crucially, it will also determine the scope and capabilities of the ECB within the ever-evolving architecture of the euro. As in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis and the subsequent Euro Crisis, Member States are discussing new mechanisms to enhance economic recovery and further integration which, one way or another, will involve the support of, or the coordination of fiscal policymakers with the ECB. The impact of the new ECB strategy in the current debate about the future direction of the single currency should not be overlooked. In this chapter, we offer a proposal for the reform of the ECB strategy incorporating the lessons learned in the recent crises. We discuss several options for the ECB and set up a rule-based strategy suitable to operate in an environment of persistently low inflation and near-zero interest rates. Under our proposal, monetary stability becomes the guiding principle for providing macroeconomic stability over the medium and long term, as well as for enhancing the transparency of the ECB communication policies.

Irving Fisher and Frank Knight had a brief exchange on the former’s “The Theory of Interest”, published in 1930, which culminated in a full book review by Knight in 1931. We assess the episode by recasting Fisher’s interest theory as a maximisation under constraint calculation. After that, Knight’s objections to subjective time preference are examined, as well as his ensuing attack on the Austrian School’s definition of capital. Fisher’s and Knight’s reflections on business cycles, grounded on expectations, delays, and speculation, are assessed in sequence. We conclude by indicating some limitations of the theories of interest formulated by both economists.

We use a theoretical model to set up the conditions for a country to attain monetary stability by allowing for two freely tradable currencies to circulate in parallel. For this parallel system to function properly, confidence in the good behavior of the monetary authorities in charge of the two currencies is key. Our model shows how a floating exchange rate between the two can keep the issuers of the local currency in check. The results from our model show the conditions under which a parallel currency system disciplines the issuers of the currencies and thus maintains their purchasing power. In non-volatile economies, it also discourages governments (or private issuers) from inflating one of the currencies as a means to raise seigniorage, as this policy results in the displacement of the currency from the market. When foreign payments shortfall—such as in Greece and Cyprus during the ‘euro crisis’ in the mid-2010s, or intractable hyperinflation—leave the country without a medium of exchange, our model shows how currency choice can restore monetary circulation and offer a path to achieving and maintaining monetary stability.