1st Edition
The Economics of Natural Resources in Latin America Taxation and Regulation of the Extractive Industries
Revenues from commodities are extremely important for Latin America and the Caribbean, yet there is very little literature on the structure of these industries and on the various ways in which the state obtains commodity revenues. This book aims to understand the trade-off between the degree of taxation overall, the profitability of the relevant industry and the amount of investment and subsequent production in the region, as well as the relevance of institutions in the performance of the sector.
This volume focuses on economic efficiency: where Latin America stands in terms of the current tax system for the extractive sector; how policies have changed in this regard; and how policies may be improved. The Economics of Natural Resources in Latin America is timely, since this new era of lower and volatile prices and possible reconfiguration of investment flows poses a challenge to natural resource tax systems in the world. The argument of the book will be made by a collection of papers around the issue of tax efficiency in the region and concludes with chapters on institutions and the role of transparency.
This book shows that there are varieties of experiences in resource taxation and management of revenues in Latin America that could be used to shape policy interventions in other regions. This variety is not only related to their diverse impact on welfare, but also on the policy challenges faced by the countries in the region. This volume is well suited for those who study and find interest in development economics, political economy and public finance, as well as policy
Chapter 1: The Taxation of Non-Renewable Resources in Latin America: Introduction and Overview
- Commodity prices, the super-cycle and implications for fiscal revenues
- Recent literature on non-renewables
- Institutions and instruments: gaps in relation to best practices
- What next for resource tax systems in Latin America?
- Conclusions
Chapter 2: The effects of commodity taxation on sector performance
- Methodological approach
- Results
- Concluding remarks
Chapter 3: Towards efficient taxation of minerals: The case of copper in Chile
- The role of copper in Chilean Development
- Mining sector today
- Deacon’s Model
- Data and parameters
- Relevant Tax Regimes in the Case of Chile
- Simulations of the scenarios
- Concluding remarks
Chapter 4: Two sectors, two approaches: resource taxation in Peru
- Institutional Setting
- The Model
- Data
- Results
- Introducing depreciation in Deacon’s Model
- Concluding remarks
Chapter 5: Not all fields are created equal: The challenge of oil taxation in Venezuela
- The Theory on Oil Production and Taxes.
- The Venezuelan Case
- Estimating the Effects upon Oil Exploitation of the Tax Rules
- A brief review of the performance sector
- Concluding Remarks
Chapter 6: Regulation and State Intervention in Non-Renewable Natural Resources: the cases of the oil and gas sectors i
Biography
Osmel Manzano is Regional Economic Advisor for the Country Department for Belize, Central America, Mexico, Panama and Dominican Republic at the Inter-American Development Bank, USA. He is responsible for the economic work and macroeconomic monitoring of the IADB in Central America, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Fernando Navajas is Professor of economics at the Universities of Buenos Aires and La Plata and Chief Economist at FIEL, Argentina. He is currently President of the Argentine Association of Political Economy and Director of the Applied Economics Institute of the National Academy of Economic Science of Argentina.
Andrew Powell is Principal Advisor in the Research Department (RES) of the Inter-American Development Bank, USA. He has published numerous academic papers in leading economic journals in areas including commodity markets, risk management, the role of multilaterals, regulation, banking and international finance.
