The goal of this course is to understand economic issues in contemporary Latin American society in their social, cultural and political context.

This course provides an overview of the environment shaping business incentives and economic trajectories in Latin America, by integrating culture, economics and politics. “Standard” topics in economics and business, such as the recent macroeconomic performance and the microeconomic competitiveness of Latin American countries, are covered. However, the course also transcends the borders of academic disciplines and deals with topics such as social change, violence, national identity and the political underpinnings of long-run prosperity. A common theme of the course is that current political and economic structures can only be understood in a historical context.

The literature for this course consists of a collection of academic articles and book chapters, plus other materials such as podcasts, newspaper articles and policy reports.

First-year courses in economics in either the International Business bachelor or in the Economics and Business Economics bachelor, or equivalent courses from other programmes.

This is a course developed for the students in their third year of the Emerging Markets programme who are focusing on Latin America. Exchange students or any students at Maastricht University planning to study or work in Latin America are also welcome. For other students: please note that some background knowledge of Latin American politics and society, and a high level of interest in Latin America, is expected. This interest should translate into a very high level of engagement throughout the period, including active participation in guest lectures and a willingness to participate in (and ideally organize) additional extracurricular events focused on Latin America.

Basic knowledge of economics, similar to what one would acquire in the first year of an undergraduate program in economics, is expected. This should include some knowledge of game theory and institutional economics. Some background knowledge of the intersection between economics and politics in emerging markets is also helpful but not strictly necessary.