South American West Coast Economies: A Panel Data Approach

Abstract

Latin American countries, especially those placed in the Pacific shore; have a good growth vector based in macroeconomic parameters like GDP, activity rates and foreign investment. At the same time, these elements evolve in parallel with the trade activity, both as for imports/exports amounts and for containership ports throughput (measured in TEUs).

This paper shows the evolution of these parameters along the last decade, and also performs a multivariate analysis, based on panel data methodologies, in order to put all these variables into relation.

The results show the relevance of this geographical area as a key growth vector with respect to all the Latin American aggregate, and also show the positive relation between activity rates and innovation, TEUs throughput, and a slightly negative contribution of foreign direct investment and employment in those countries.

Keywords: port governance, panel data, innovation, Latin America

JEL Classification: H13, K23, R48