Who are the entrepreneurs in Latin America and what are the characteristics of their businesses?

(Caracas, November 18, 2011).- Why are the size and productivity distributions of Latin American firms so different from other regions? What are the causes of the scant creation, survival and growth of enterprises with high potential in Latin America? These are two of the questions the Tenth CAF Annual Research Competition aims to answer.

"While the Latin American business scene has a majority of small unproductive and informal firms, the distribution of companies in advanced economies is characterized by a greater presence of large and very large firms, with high levels of productivity," Leonardo Villar, vice president of CAF Development Strategies said, on announcing the holding of the 2011 Annual Competition organized by the financial institution.

Villar said there was a close connection between allocation of entrepreneurial capabilities and talents into different occupations, access and use of other complementary factors of production, and productivity. "The purpose of this invitation to submit research proposals is to contribute to the important literature on the problems of productivity in the region, and to promote research that will analyze these issues taking as starting point occupational and entrepreneurial decisions and the setting in which they are made."

CAF will grant US$15,000 to the selected proposals to be used to carry out the research. In June a seminar will be held in a Latin American city where the winners will be invited to present their work.

Entries should be sent to Lucila Berniell (mberniell@caf.com ) before January 15, 2012 for evaluation by a panel of researchers from CAF led by research director Pablo Sanguinetti, and a committee of external experts composed of Hugo Hopenhayn (UCLA), Francisco Buera (UCLA), and Chang-Tai Hsieh (Chicago Booth).

The results will be announced on January 30, 2012 and final papers must be submitted by May 30, 2012.

In past competitions an average of 60 entries have been received from 12 countries as diverse as Australia, Spain, United States, France, India, and South American countries. In previous years topics covered have included the relationship of development with infrastructure; social policies; productivity and diversification; international trade; growth in Latin America from different perspectives; how to break the curse of natural resources; and fiscal policy and development.

Details on how to enter the competition can be found on the CAF website.