IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/pal/palscp/978-3-030-47553-6_5.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

From West to East: Bolivian Regional GDPs since the 1950s. A Story of Natural Resources and Infrastructure

In: Time and Space

Author

Listed:
  • José A. Peres-Cajías

    (Universitat de Barcelona)

Abstract

This chapter offers a general assessment of the economic activity in Bolivian regions thanks to an estimation, for the first time, of regional GDPs in Bolivia from 1950 onwards. The new quantitative evidence shows the economic upsurge and consolidation of new regions beyond the traditional economic zones, which were located to the west of the country since colonial times. This process is in stark contrast with most Latin American experiences, where economic activity has tended to be concentrated continuously in the same regions since the mid-nineteenth century. This changing pattern is first explained by the availability of natural resource endowments. However, given the landlocked nature of the country, the vibrant set of ecological regions, and the consequent relevance of transports costs, it is argued that natural resources may act as potent engines of regional economic growth only when a minimum network of public infrastructure is available.

Suggested Citation

  • José A. Peres-Cajías, 2020. "From West to East: Bolivian Regional GDPs since the 1950s. A Story of Natural Resources and Infrastructure," Palgrave Studies in Economic History, in: Daniel A. Tirado-Fabregat & Marc Badia-Miró & Henry Willebald (ed.), Time and Space, chapter 0, pages 97-129, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palscp:978-3-030-47553-6_5
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-47553-6_5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert, 2018. "Cliometrics," Working Papers of BETA 2018-01, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    2. Alfonso Herranz-Loncán & José Alejandro Peres-Cajías, 2016. "Tracing the reversal of fortune in the Americas: Bolivian GDP per capita since the mid-nineteenth century," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 10(1), pages 99-128, january.
    3. Jose Luis Evia & Osvaldo Nina & Miguel Urquiola & Lykke Andersen & Eduardo Antelo, 1999. "Geography and Development in Bolivia: Migration, Urban and Industrial Concentration, Welfare, and Convergence: 1950-1992," Research Department Publications 3085, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    4. Mendez-Guerra, Carlos, 2017. "Heterogeneous Growth and Regional (Di)Convergence in Bolivia: A Distribution Dynamics Approach," MPRA Paper 81060, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), 2019. "Handbook of Cliometrics," Springer Books, Springer, edition 2, number 978-3-030-00181-0, July.
    6. Klimenko E. V., 2014. "Social Protection: History Of," Management, Academy of Municipal Administration, vol. 8(1), pages 148-155, February.
    7. repec:grm:ecoyun:201717 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Marc Badia-Miró, 2015. "The evolution of the location of economic activity in Chile in the long run: a paradox of extreme concentration in absence of agglomeration economies," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 42(2 Year 20), pages 143-167, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tubaro, Paola & Coville, Marion & Le Ludec, Clément & Casilli, Antonio A., 2022. "Hidden inequalities: The gendered labour of women on micro-tasking platforms," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26.
    2. Eric Monnet & Francois R. Velde, 2020. "Money, Banking, and Old-School Historical Economics," Working Paper Series WP-2020-28, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    3. Boris Branisa & José Peres-Cajías & Nigel Caspa, 2019. "The biological standard of living in urban Bolivia, 1880s-1920s: stagnation and persistent inequality," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 240, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert, 2021. "The Role of Cliometrics in History and Economics," Working Papers 06-21, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    5. John E. Murray & Javier Silvestre, 2020. "Integration in European coal markets, 1833–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 668-702, August.
    6. Mendez-Guerra, Carlos, 2018. "¿Convergencia beta, sigma y distribucional en desarrollo humano? Evidencia de las regiones metropolitanas de Bolivia," Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Economico, Carrera de Economía de la Universidad Católica Boliviana (UCB) "San Pablo", issue 30, pages 88-117, November.
    7. Mendez-Guerra, Carlos, 2018. "Beta, Sigma and Distributional Convergence in Human Development? Evidence from the Metropolitan Regions of Bolivia," MPRA Paper 87627, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Iñaki Iriarte Goñi & Vicente Pinilla, 2019. "The Development of Modern Agricultural History within Economic History in Spain," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 1910, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    9. Peres-Cajías, José & Torregrosa-Hetland, Sara & Ducoing, Cristián, 2020. "Resource abundance and public finances in five peripheral economies, 1850-1939," Lund Papers in Economic History 216, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    10. Francisco J. Marco-Gracia & Javier Puche, 2020. "Did taller people live longer? Influence of height on life span in rural Spain, 1835-2019," Working Papers 0201, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    11. Claude DIEBOLT & Jamel TRABELSI, 2009. "Human Capital and French Macroeconomic Growth in the Long Run," Economies et Sociétés (Serie 'Histoire Economique Quantitative'), Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), issue 40, pages 901-917, May.
    12. Branisa, Boris & Peres-Cajías, Jose & Caspa, Nigel, 2020. "The biological standard of living in La Paz (Bolivia), 1880s–1920s: Persistent stagnation and inequality," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    13. Vincent Geloso & Peter Lindert, 2020. "Relative costs of living, for richer and poorer, 1688–1914," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 14(3), pages 417-442, September.
    14. Brian A'Hearn & Alexia Delfino & Alessandro Nuvolari, 2022. "Rethinking age heaping: a cautionary tale from nineteenth‐century Italy," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(1), pages 111-137, February.
    15. Sascha O. BECKER & Francesco CINNIRELLA, 2020. "Prussia Disaggregated: The Demography of its Universe of Localities in 1871," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 86(3), pages 259-290, September.
    16. Marco-Gracia, Francisco J. & Puche, Javier, 2021. "The association between male height and lifespan in rural Spain, birth cohorts 1835-1939," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    17. Jean-François Mignot, 2019. "Child Adoption in Western Europe, 1900–2015," Studies in Economic History, in: Claude Diebolt & Auke Rijpma & Sarah Carmichael & Selin Dilli & Charlotte Störmer (ed.), Cliometrics of the Family, chapter 0, pages 333-366, Springer.
    18. Simon P. Lloyd & Solomos Solomou, 2020. "The impact of the 1932 General Tariff: a difference-in-difference approach," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 14(1), pages 41-60, January.
    19. Ioannis Katselidis & Angelos Vouldis & Panayotis G. Michaelides, 2011. "Sumner Slichter and Emil Lederer on technological unemployment," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(6), pages 537-556, May.
    20. Timini, Jacopo & Viani, Francesca, 2022. "A highway across the Atlantic? Trade and welfare effects of the EU-Mercosur agreement," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 291-308.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Natural resources; Regional convergence; Regional inequality; Landlockness; Bolivia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N16 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N56 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N96 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palscp:978-3-030-47553-6_5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.