Global Reach. Global Knowledge.

Enhancing Social Capital in Latin America

Since its formation, the Latin America Research Center (LARC) has worked to enhance intellectual capital creation by working with academics as well as business leaders in the region.

Programs in this area, supported by the LARC include:

The Colloquium on Participant-Centered Learning (CPCL), is an HBS course for faculty at business schools in emerging economies who are trained in interactive methods of teaching and learning.

The Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN), a consortium of eleven business schools that research and develop teaching cases on social enterprise in leading Latin American business schools.

In August 2008 the SEKN hosted a colloquium, Challenges and Opportunities of Inclusive Businesses.

2009

Global Capital and National Institutions: Crisis and Choice in the International Financial Architecture

Alfaro, Laura
October 2009

All managers face a business environment in which international and macroeconomic phenomena matter. International capital flows can significantly affect countries' development efforts and provide clear investment opportunities for businesses. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the world witnessed an explosion in capital flows at the global level. Gross foreign assets and liabilities stood at two or three times GDP for many countries, as compared to just two decades ago. This explosive growth, especially in emerging markets, has been fueled both by changes in world politics (e.g., the end of the Cold War, collapse of the Soviet Union, shifting political climate in China, and political changes in Latin America and Asia) and advances in technology. Private capital flows-debt finance, equity capital, and foreign direct investment (FDI)-became larger than current and past official capital flows. This new era of foreign capital mobility has also been characterized by low interest rates in industrial countries, growing external imbalances in the U.S. economy, and the rise of China, all of which posed new challenges to policy management. In 2009, the global economy remained mired in a deep crisis following the subprime meltdown in the U.S. The situation was also a true testimony of how intertwined individual economies had become over the years. The effect of policies to deal with the ongoing global crisis and new policy choices remain to be seen. Understanding these phenomena-the determinants of capital flows, the effects of foreign capital on host countries, the impact of exchange-rate movements, and the genesis of financial and currency crises-is a crucial aspect to making informed managerial decisions. The cases in this book have been designed to give students an appreciation of the critical role of institutions and policies in affecting patterns of international capital flows and the abilities of government to manage them effectively. The case studies are tied together by two broad themes: (1) the determinants and effects of international capital, and (2) policy-makers' management of these flows. The cases approach these themes by exploring institutional detail in deep local context. The cases expose students to recent key events that have shaped the way economists think about these subjects. The events covered have a clear global perspective as the cases are set in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, as well as the United States. The cases also cover events that occurred during the last three decades as not only do they affect the business environment that managers face today but they also hold important lessons. An important feature the cases reveal is the cyclical nature of international capital flows. Global Capital and National Institutions: Crisis and Choice in the International Financial Architecture is composed of three intellectual segments: (1) Determinants and Effects of International Capital Flows, (2) Policies and Strategies for Harnessing the Benefits of Financial Globalization, and (3) Challenges and Policies of Large Economies. Chapter I presents a detailed overview of the cases and readings in the module and relates the cases included to the main patterns of international capital flows in the last thirty years. Finally, the chapter also presents the key insights from the field of international economics covered in the cases as well as the current state of debate among policy-makers.

2008

Urgency and Betrayal: Three Attempts to Foster Private Investment in Argentina's Oil Industry

Wells, Louis T.
January 2008

No summary available.

Populism and Natural Resources edited by William Hogan and Federico Sturzenegger. Cambridge, Mass. (MIT Press, forthcoming)

2007

Microfinance: Business, Profitability, and the Creation of Social Value

Book chapter in Business Solutions for the Global Poor: Creating Social and Economic Value, edited by V. Kasturi Rangan, John A. Quelch, Gustavo Herrero, and Brooke Barton

Chu, Michael
September 2007

After thirty years of development, commercial microfinance in the developing world-the provision of financial services to low-income populations on a financially-sustainable basis-is an example with many lessons applicable to the study of business and the global poor. In recent years, there has been ample evidence, both in the literature and in capital markets, of the ability of leading microfinance institutions, particularly in Latin America and Asia, to generate superior economic returns. The issue is less clear in terms of the contribution successful microfinance makes to the reduction of global poverty. This paper seeks to address aspects of the creation of economic value and social value in microfinance, which the author believes contains insights applicable to all endeavors that seek to address the needs of the poor on a commercial basis.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2007

2006

Rural Credit: Historical Discussions and Legislation in Argentina (El crédito rural: proyectos legislativos y discusiones contemporáneas 1899-1933)

Lluch, Andrea M.
August 2006

Book chapter in El Agro en cuestión. Discursos, políticas y corporaciones en la Argentina, 1870-2000

Buenos Aires: Prometeo, 2006

Legal Origin vs. the Politics of Creditor Rights: Bond Markets in Brazil, 1850-2002

Musacchio, Aldo
August 2006

Book chapter in The Politics of Financial Development, edited by Stephen Haber, Douglass C. North and Barry Weingast

Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, forthcoming

Reflections on Leadership

Austin, James E.
March 2006

Book chapter in Liderazgo, Lideranca, Leadership

Testimonios personales, 71. Costa Rica: Publicado Por Viva, 2005