Import substitution industrialization in the context of "Development economics"

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⭐ Core Definition: Import substitution industrialization

Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a protectionist trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production. It is based on the premise that a country should attempt to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of industrialized products. The term primarily refers to 20th-century development economics policies, but it has been advocated since the 18th century by economists such as Friedrich List and Alexander Hamilton.

ISI policies have been enacted by developing countries with the intention of producing development and self-sufficiency by the creation of an internal market. The state leads economic development by nationalization, subsidization of manufacturing, increased taxation, and highly protectionist trade policies. In the context of Latin American development, the term "Latin American structuralism" refers to the era of import substitution industrialization in many Latin American countries from the 1950s to the 1980s. The theories behind Latin American structuralism and ISI were organized in the works of economists such as Raúl Prebisch, Hans Singer, and Celso Furtado, and gained prominence with the creation of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC or CEPAL). They were influenced by a wide range of Keynesian, communitarian, and socialist economic thought, as well as dependency theory.

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Import substitution industrialization in the context of Protectionism

Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. Proponents argue that protectionist policies shield the producers, businesses, and workers of the import-competing sector in the country from foreign competitors and raise government revenue. Opponents argue that protectionist policies reduce trade, and adversely affect consumers in general (by raising the cost of imported goods) as well as the producers and workers in export sectors, both in the country implementing protectionist policies and in the countries against which the protections are implemented.

Protectionism has been advocated mainly by parties that hold economic nationalist positions, while economically liberal political parties generally support free trade.

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Import substitution industrialization in the context of Structuralist economics

Structuralist economics is an approach to economics that emphasizes the importance of taking into account structural features (typically) when undertaking economic analysis. The approach originated with the work of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA or CEPAL) and is primarily associated with its director Raúl Prebisch and Brazilian economist Celso Furtado. Prebisch began with arguments that economic inequality and distorted development was an inherent structural feature of the global system exchange. As such, early structuralist models emphasised both internal and external disequilibria arising from the productive structure and its interactions with the dependent relationship developing countries had with the developed world. Prebisch himself helped provide the rationale for the idea of import substitution industrialization, in the wake of the Great Depression and World War II. The alleged declining terms of trade of the developing countries, the Singer–Prebisch hypothesis, played a key role in this.

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Import substitution industrialization in the context of Prebisch–Singer hypothesis

In economics, the Prebisch–Singer hypothesis (also called the Prebisch–Singer thesis) argues that the price of primary commodities declines relative to the price of manufactured goods over the long term, which causes the terms of trade of primary-product-based economies to deteriorate. As of 2013, recent statistical studies have given support for the idea. The idea was developed by Raúl Prebisch and Hans Singer in the late 1940s; since that time, it has served as a major pillar of dependency theory and policies such as import substitution industrialization (ISI).

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Import substitution industrialization in the context of Peronism

Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and political movement with a populist tendency, based on the ideas, doctrine, and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Peronists have won 10 out of the 14 presidential elections in which they have been allowed to run. Peronism is defined through its three flags: "social justice" (the fight against social and economic inequalities), "economic independence" (an economy that does not depend on other countries, by developing its national industry), and "political sovereignty" (the non-interference of foreign powers in domestic affairs).

Peronism, as an ideology, is described as a social form of nationalism, as it promotes a sense of national pride among Argentines. However, it promotes an inclusive form of nationalism that embraces all ethnicities and races as integral parts of the nation, distinguishing it from racial or chauvinistic ethno-nationalism that prioritizes a single ethnic group. This is due to the ethnically heterogeneous background of Argentina, which is a result of the mixing between indigenous peoples, Criollos, various immigrant groups, and their descendants. Likewise, Peronism is generally considered populist, as it relies on the figure of a leader (originally embodied by Perón) to lead the masses. Consequently, it adopted a third position in the context of the Cold War, as expressed in the phrase: "we are neither Yankees nor Marxists."

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