Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
In the study of Latin America's economic history, discussion of the role of the export sector in promoting development has entered a provocative new stage. Recently, advances in the understanding of export economies have questioned the view that export orientation is the principal cause of underdevelopment and dependence. New studies have demonstrated the impact of export growth on the increasingly efficient use of domestic factors of production improvement of transportation networks, urban and industrial diversification, and active state intervention accompanied by the rising political influence of middle and labor sectors. Yet despite the perceived importance of domestic and foreign credit during the heyday of export-led growth, and the often underestimated but crucial native struggle to control and direct Latin American financial structures, few of those works have analyzed the crucial links between the economic structure and native financial development.
Research in Peru was possible thanks to an Advanced Grant for Research of the Social Science Research Council, 1987.