75 years of ECLAC and ECLAC thinking

Early in this decade, the Commission undertook a critical evaluation of its initial programme of work in the light of the results observed in the region, especially in those economies that had undergone a process of industrialization. Although the region had registered higher growth rates since the end of the Second World War, industrialization was found to have reproduced other peripheral conditions.

To revitalize the industrialization process, structural reforms had to be carried out to reduce the agricultural lag, to contain the marginalization and poverty resulting from the dynamics of rural-urban migration, and to promote investments that would enable the accumulation of technical progress and greater labour absorption in the new industrial activities. ECLAC therefore proposed structural changes based on agrarian reform and the application of income redistribution policies to reduce structural heterogeneity and dependence with a view to fostering development. (Prebisch, Raúl. 1963,Towards a dynamic development policy for Latin America) 

With the realization that the social structure of the countries of the region was a serious obstacle to technical progress, ECLAC therefore incorporated into its work an approach aimed at a better understanding of economic and social development. The necessary structural reforms would not have been possible without the support of technically designed instruments and programmes. The Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) was established to train and advise governments on reforms and conduct research on planning techniques.