Historia Económica

The debate on the relationship between natural resources abundance and economic growth is still open. Our contribution to this field combines a long-run perspective (1870–2014) with the study of a peripheral country in the world economy (Uruguay).

Natural Resources and Economic Growth contains theoretical and empirical articles by leading scholars who have studied this subject in different historical periods from the 19th century to the present day and in different parts of the world. Part I presents the theoretical issues and discusses the meaning of the "curse" and the relevance of the historical perspective. Part II captures the diversity of experiences, presenting thirteen independent case studies based on historical results from North and South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe.

Las fuertes limitaciones de financiamiento que suele experimentar el sector público en los países latinoamericanos explican, en parte, la alta volatilidad que registran las variables fiscales en la región. La frecuencia y profundidad de los ajustes fiscales constituyen otra de sus consecuencias.

Argentine export growth before the First World War is considered one of the most relevant variables in order to understand the main characteristics of Argentina's long-run modern economic growth properly.

En el marco de la investigación sobre el gasto público social, surge como necesidad profundizar en el estudio de la dinámica a través de la cual la contingencia del desempleo ha sido asistida en Uruguay a lo largo de su historia.

The aim of this chapter is to analyse the long-term evolution of the Uruguayan economy from a different angle, adopting a regional perspective. In so doing, we first present estimates of regional GDP for the 19 provinces (departamentos) that make up Uruguay nowadays. Our estimates correspond to 16 benchmark years throughout roughly a century and a half, from 1872 to 2012. This information allows us to evaluate the main patterns of regional income inequality from the globalization of the Atlantic economy in the late nineteenth century until today. Further, the regional GDP database offers the possibility to examine the following: the magnitude of the relevance of Montevideo and its evolution over time; the impact of different trade regimes on the levels of regional inequality; the effect of public policies during the state-led industrialization on the spatial distribution of economic activity; or the evolution of the economies of the borders with Argentina and Brazil.

Este trabajo aporta una mirada de las principales características de la política monetaria entre 1931 y 1959 relacionando los cambios con el contexto nacional e internacional. Las transformaciones más importantes abarcaron dos dimensiones. Por un lado, el rol cada vez más significativo y determinante del Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay (BROU) en la conducción de la política monetaria y cambiaria. La otra dimensión relevante fueron los cambios introducidos en el sistema de emisión como principal mecanismo de acción de la política monetaria, que revelan la transición hacia una política donde se prioriza la flexibilidad a través de la introducción de puntales de emisión ligados a fuentes internas, reemplazando la rigidez característica del régimen de patrón oro. Por otra parte, se describe la evolución de los principales agregados monetarios, la vinculación de estos con el nivel de actividad y una primera aproximación al efecto del dinero sobre los precios.

This paper examines the relationship between school provision and the political power of the president in Uruguay between 1914 and 1954. The empirical analysis relies on fixed effects panel estimations based on newly compiled information about the partisan orientation of legislative members, electoral competition and schooling diffusion at the department-level. Ceteris paribus, I find an association between school provision and the need of government to capture votes or to obtain further legislative support. The resource allocation initially benefitted government’s core voter departments and shifted to favor non-loyal districts as an answer to the increasing intra-party political conflicts. Against the traditional historical narrative, the results point out to an influence of political interests on the diffusion of mass schooling and suggest the use of school provision as a pork barrel good over the period.

En la primera mitad del siglo XX se buscó infructuosamente instrumentar en Uruguay un segurode desempleo general que cubriera a los trabajadores de la actividad privada que perdían su empleo e incluyera bolsas de trabajo. El único caso en que se logró superar la oposición patronal a las bolsas de trabajo e instrumentar un régimen de este tipo fue para atender el desempleo estacional en los sectores de frigoríficos y de barracas de lana y cuero, que funcionaron entre 1944 y 1979. Se trataba de sectores claves para el país por su posición como generadores de divisas, en el marco de la ISI.Este instrumento repitió un defecto recurrente en todo el andamiaje del sistema de seguridad social uruguayo: fallas estructurales en sus fuentes de financiamiento.

Railways were an important factor in the expansion of Latin American economies in the late-nineteenth century. Due to their potential impact, governments often promoted railway construction through subsidies. The Uruguayan state offered profit guarantees to foreign railway companies and was able to attract massive investment in the railway sector. This paper asks the question of whether these railway guarantees were efficient, and estimates subsidized and unsubsidized private returns, as well as the social returns, of the Uruguayan railway network from 1869 to 1913

Railways were an important factor in the expansion of Latin American economies in the late-nineteenth century. Due to their potential impact, governments often promoted railway construction through subsidies. The Uruguayan state offered profit guarantees to foreign railway companies and was able to attract massive investment in the railway sector. This paper asks the question of whether these railway guarantees were efficient, and estimates subsidized and unsubsidized private returns, as well as the social returns, of the Uruguayan railway network from 1869 to 1913

Partiendo de la noción de “régimen fiscal”, en este trabajo se presenta evidencia sobre regularidades y rupturas en diferentes aspectos de las finanzas públicas uruguayas (básicamente, la estructura tributaria, el gasto público y el endeudamiento) durante el siglo XX.