--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-36/knowledge-intensity-in-a-set-of-latin-american-countries-implications-for-productivity/" title: "Knowledge Intensity in a Set of Latin American Countries: Implications for Productivity" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:52:53+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:52:53+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2019" ipm_keyword: - "2000-2016" - "Brazil" - "Chile" - "Colombia" - "growth accounting" - "human capital" - "ICT" - "knowledge intensity" - "LA KLEMS" - "Latin America" - "Mexico" ipm_research_theme: - "Technology and innovation" ipm_country_focus: - "Brazil" - "Chile" - "Colombia" - "Latin America" - "Mexico" - "Spain" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Knowledge Intensity in a Set of Latin American Countries: Implications for Productivity Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-36/knowledge-intensity-in-a-set-of-latin-american-countries-implications-for-productivity/ # Knowledge Intensity in a Set of Latin American Countries: Implications for Productivity [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-36-10-Mas-Hofman-Benages.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Mas, Matilde, André Hofman, and Eva Benages. 2019. “Knowledge Intensity in a Set of Latin American Countries: Implications for Productivity.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 36 (Spring 2019): 204–233. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-36/knowledge-intensity-in-a-set-of-latin-american-countries-implications-for-productivity/ ## Authors: - Matilde Mas University of Valencia / Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE); University of Santiago de Chile (USACH) - André Hofman University of Santiago (USACH); ECLAC - Eva Benages Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE) ## IPM Issue 36 Spring 2019 pp. 204–233 ## Related IPM articles [Adult Skills and Productivity: New Evidence from PIAAC 2023 Dan Andrews, Balázs Égert, Christine de La Maisonneuve Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 41–63](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/adult-skills-and-productivity-new-evidence-from-piaac-2023/) [The UK Productivity Slowdown: A Review of Timing, Magnitude, and Drivers Josh Martin Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 1–34](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/the-uk-productivity-slowdown-a-review-of-timing-magnitude-and-drivers/) [Appendix: UK Productivity Growth Rates Across Data Vintages and Studies Josh Martin Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 65–73](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/appendix-uk-productivity-growth-rates-across-data-vintages-and-studies/) [Capacity Utilization and Production Function Estimation: Implications for Productivity Analysis Jianmin Tang, Weimin Wang Fall 2023 | IPM Issue 45 | pp. 178–199](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-45/capacity-utilization-and-production-function-estimation-implications-for-productivity-analysis/) [Recent Productivity Trends in Canada: Navigating the Twin Transitions of Green and Digitalization Jonathan Barr, Peter Foltin, Jianmin Tang Fall 2023 | IPM Issue 45 | pp. 93–119](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-45/recent-productivity-trends-in-canada-navigating-the-twin-transitions-of-green-and-digitalization/) [Decomposing Canada’s Post-2000 Productivity Performance and Pandemic-Era Productivity Slowdown Chris Haun, Tim Sargent Fall 2023 | IPM Issue 45 | pp. 5–27](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-45/decomposing-canadas-post-2000-productivity-performance-and-pandemic-era-productivity-slowdown/) [Did Trade Liberalization Boost Total Factor Productivity Growth in Manufacturing in India in the 1990s? 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The proposed metric is based on the economic valuation of productive services provided by a set of assets that incorporate knowledge, specifically human capital and information and communication technologies (ICT). Rather than using a single indicator to measure knowledge intensity, we follow an economic approach rooted in a growth accounting methodology, determining the contribution of each individual asset according to the prices of the services they provide. This methodology is applied to four Latin-American (LA) countries, namely Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, taking the United States and Spain as benchmarks for the period 2000-2016. Cet article propose de mesurer l’intensité de la connaissance des économies avec une approche alternative à celles fondées sur l’agrégation des industries selon leurs dépenses en R-D ou la qualification de la main-d’œuvre. La mesure proposée est fondée sur la valorisation économique des services productifs fournis par un ensemble d’actifs incorporant des connaissances, notamment le capital humain et les TIC. Cette méthodologie est appliquée à quatre pays d’Amérique latine — le Brésil, le Chili, la Colombie et le Mexique — en prenant les États-Unis et l’Espagne comme points de référence pour la période 2000-2016, afin d’évaluer dans quelle mesure l’intensité de la connaissance explique les différences de croissance de la productivité dans la région. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-36-10-Mas-Hofman-Benages.pdf)