ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to establish some stylized facts about the process of export diversification and structural change in exports for six key Latin American economies: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela. Structural change in exports accelerated during the debt crisis episode of the early 1980s, and more rapid structural change may be associated with policy reform. Mexico and Colombia also show secular trends toward diversification after accounting for the interruptions associated with the Mexican oil boom and the Colombian coffee boom. It is tempting to speculate on the relationship between policy reform and patterns of diversification. The timing of Chilean diversification with the beginning of general liberalization in the mid-1970s has already been noted. The Mexican pattern of recent emphasis on machinery and motor vehicles reflects the success of the maquiladoras, which may have been fortuitously financed by the oil boom.
