Teachings on local economic development and decentralization in Latin America

Abstract

Fifteen years ago, in April 2004, CEPAL magazine reported on a research project co-funded by the German Technical Agency for International Cooperation (then GTZ), in which empirical evidence derived from the study of nearly 30 experiments as studies case study in seven Latin American countries, showed that the emergence of local economic development initiatives was not only explained by the progress of decentralization processes in the different countries of the region, but rather as a result of a more complex set of factors arising from the territories themselves. , with the mobilization and performance of local, public and private agents. This article recalls the teachings derived from that research, in the belief that they can continue to maintain interest. However, at the moment we need to add the themes of environmental sustainability that at that time were not yet part of the debates and that today should be addressed without further delay.

Keywords: Local Economic Development. Territorial Development. Decentralization. Democracy. Latin America.