He Diversity of Capitalisms in Latin America, a Regulationist Approach

The diversity of capitalisms in Latin America, a regulationist approach

Against the dominant institutionalist perspective on Latin American capitalisms that believes that all countries in the continent have followed the same mode of development, we defend the idea that there are significant structural and socio-political differences them. This does not mean that every country is radically different and that we cannot find any general trends, but that we can find that there are clusters of countries that have had similar historical trajectories, analogous economic and class structures that make them react in a comparable manner to changes in the world economy.

This perspective is not only different from the ones that seek to find general patterns to the impacts of liberalization, for example. But it also differs from macro-economic analyses that try to define the best manner to react to a crisis, or to a favorable economic situation in order to extract most of its benefits. It is rather an analysis in political economy based on the manner in which socio-political conformations determine economic policies. It is an explanation on why States make economic decisions that are not always the “best way”. This perspective also judges that every capitalism in Latin America has its own crisis that must be distinguished from others.

We propose a theoretical perspective that analyzes certain “determinants” of a type of capitalism: On what is the economy of the country based: commodities, industrial products, both? What are the characteristics of the wage relation: the labor market and social policies? What is the character and the form of intervention of the State? What are the fundamental socio-political groups that dominate political and economic decisions? What is the character of the political system?