Industrialisation and economic growth, a missing link or a missing point? Reflections about the Latin American case at the beginning of the 21st century

Echoing recent analyses on deindustrialisation, in this paper I assess the apparent delink between manufacturing and economic growth for six Latin American countries during the first decade of the 2000s century. I frame the analysis in both Post-Keynesian and Structuralist tradition given the paramount role these schools of thought grant to industrialisation for achieving high economic growth rates. Findings show, first, that quantitative analysis based on the study of growth rates and productivities is non-conclusive to understand whether or not manufacturing kept working as an engine of growth in the region. Second, beyond the quantitative link, attention needs to be taken in the insertion of Latin America in the global production networks to understand the role that industrialisation is playing in economic growth in recent times. While deindustrialisation only reflects a statistical evolution of manufacturing shares predicted by both Post-Keynesian and Structuralism, the link between industrialisation and economic growth in Latin America in the 21st century must be understood as a new phase of peripherical industrialisation posing new and old challenges for achieving positive structural change within the region.