Structural change in a growing open economy: Attitudes and institutions in Latin America and Asia

This article provides a formal assessment of the interplay between structural and institutional change. We highlight the sharp contrast between societies whose past experiences condition them to regard innovative change with antipathy and those with favourable attitudes. Using Thirlwall’s law as the connecting bridge, we present empirical evidence relating attitudes and the productive structure for a sample of 20 Latin American and 14 Asian countries between 1980 and 2014. Our findings are formalised in terms of two agent-based models. The first admits multiple equilibria and is used to discuss the experiences of modern Latin America and Asia. Allowing for feedback effects from growth to attitudes towards change, the second model shows how a complex economy might be associated with a better distribution of power. It is demonstrated that endogenous cyclical trajectories may arise, providing further insights on the nature of structural and institutional change.