The Possibilities of Industrialization and Structural Change for the Periphery in the Context of Globalization

Abstract

After the shift in the economic accumulation pattern toward a more neoliberal agenda during the 1990s, the industrial policy space in countries belonging to the periphery has been extremely reduced. In the new globalized era, developed countries (particularly the United States) have placed at the center of the international negotiations the need to move discussions toward free trade for goods, services, and, especially, capital. With the increasing importance of both financial institutions and Global Value Chains organized by Transnational Corporations on the international sphere, the main target was to minimize the transaction costs involved in the internationalization of production. The main aim of this chapter is to discuss the possibilities for industrial development in peripheral countries, especially in Latin America, with a view to stressing the constraint imposed by the current system of rules that regulates international trade.