ABSTRACT
The debt crisis of the early 1980s triggered the demise of the income-substitution industrialization (ISI) strategy embraced by most Latin American countries in the post-war period. The Southern Cone countries – Argentina, Chile and Uruguay – had started this process even earlier, since the ISI model had been showing signs of exhaustion by the early 1960s. On the economic front, particular attention has been directed to the study of the effects of the reforms on economic growth; on the social front, the focus has been on correlated changes in the distribution of income and in the incidence of poverty in the region. Distribution trends have been uneven across the region, with many countries experiencing greater inequality, and with just a few showing the opposite trend. Minimum wage policies have always been controversial among scholars of economics and policy makers, and the debate has intensified. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
