The ECLAC's structuralist thinking on development and Latin American integration: reflections on the contemporary relev

Abstract

This paper analyzes the contribution of Latin American structuralist school on the study of economic development and the relationship between this latter and the regional economic integration strategy. The paper evaluates the original contributions of structuralism, particularly the description of the world economy divided into center and periphery, the argument of the decline of terms of trade and the need to promote industrialization in Latin America. The paper also examines the extent to which these ideas influenced on the strategic of regional economic integration proposed by the structuralist thought, in particular the proposal of a regional integration led to further industrialization. This section is followed by an analysis of the difficulties in the implementation of the regional integration strategy proposed by ECLAC, the intellectual center of the structuralist school. Subsequently, the validity of structuralist thought on integration and development is analyzed.