Costa Rica’s paradox (1984-2018): Export boom and structural heterogeneity

Abstract

This study addresses the gap between the successful Costa Rican export development and the  productive, labor, social, educational and territorial contrasts that highlight the heterogeneity of the national development model. Since 1984 a paradigm shift took place in the ECLAC public policies of the time, which gave a predominant role to the protectionism of domestic production and the intervention of  the State in the economy. The change of model turned  towards insertion in international trade, butthe results of that change have been contradictory. A notable export success is counter balanced by vulnerabilities in the endogenous business park of low modernity and competitiveness, educational weaknesses, growingincome inequality  and  territorial gaps. This article argues that national asymmetries are the product of an unfinished paradigm shift, over dimensioning internationalization and neglecting internal imbalances derived from or accentuated by it. More holistic public policies are advocated to make the model more complete.