The question of development is a major topic in courses across the social sciences and history, particularly those focused on Latin America. Many scholars and instructors have tried to pinpoint, explain, and define the problem of underdevelopment in the region. With new ideas have come new strategies that by and large have failed to explain or reduce income disparity and relieve poverty in the region. Why Latin American Nations Fail brings together leading Latin Americanists from several disciplines to address the topic of how and why contemporary development strategies have failed to curb rampant poverty and underdevelopment throughout the region. Given the dramatic political turns in contemporary Latin America, this book offers a much-needed explanation and analysis of the factors that are key to making sense of development today.

Preface Contributors 1. Introduction Matías Vernengo and Esteban Pérez Caldentey PART I: THE INSTITUTIONAL TURN 2. Industrialization, Trade, and Economic Growth Carlos Aguiar de Medeiros 3. Institutions, Property Rights, and Why Nations Fail Esteban Pérez Caldentey and Matías Vernengo 4. With the Best of Intentions: Types of Development Failure in Latin America Miguel A. Centeno and Agustín E. Ferraro 5. What Makes an Institution "Developmental"? A Comparative Analysis Alejandro Portes and Jean C. Nava PART II: THE POST-BOOM CHALLENGES 6. Latin America's Mounting Development Challenges José Antonio Ocampo 7. Economic Performance in Latin America in the 2000s: Recession, Recovery, and Resilience? Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid and Stefanie Garry 8. South America after the Commodity Boom Martín Abeles and Sebastián Valdecantos 9. China in Latin America: Social and Environmental Lessons for Institutions in a Commodity Boom Rebecca Ray and Kevin P. Gallagher 10. Some Concluding Thoughts Esteban Pérez Caldentey and Matías Vernengo Index