Innovation in Latin America is not producing economic growth. Somewhere, the channel that goes from innovation to increased productivity and then to more economic growth, is breaking down. The statistics on this are telling. Total Factor Productivity measures how efficiently an economy uses its inputs for production. Between 2000 and 2016, the region has been one of the worst global performers on this indicator. At the same time, economic growth in the region over the past 15 years increased at a sluggish 2.7 percent per year. There are several explanations for this colossal problem. The pervasive existence of Directly Unproductive Profit-seeking Activities is one of them. Economist Jagdish Bhagwati coined the term Directly Unproductive Profit-seeking Activities, or Dup, to name […]
A note on unproductive activities
Previous article
Next article
Related
Articles & Interviews
Removing Roadblocks to Carbon Market Expansion: Insights from Bank of America’s Managing Director, Karen Fang
Carbon markets stand out as potentially one of the...
Articles & Interviews
A deliberate and inclusive path to influence: The 10th anniversary of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council
Over the past ten years, one of the defining...
Articles & Interviews
The secret of success of the Adrienne Arsht Latin American Center at the Atlantic Council: How to build relevance by fostering socioeconomic prosperity
The mission of the Adrienne Arsht Latin American Center...