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SIPA's Ocampo and Co-Author Bértola Win Jaume Vicens Vivens Prize for
Best Book on Spanish or Latin American Economic History
SIPA’s José Antonio Ocampo, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, and co-author Luis Bértola of the Universidad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay, will receive the prestigious Jaume Vicens Vives Prize for 2012. The award is given by the Spanish Association of Economic History (Asociación Española de Historia Económica) in recognition of the the best book on Spanish or Latin American economic history.
The prizewinning publication is Desarrollo, vaivenes y desigualdad. Una historia económica de América Latina desde la independencia, published by Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB). An English-language version entitled The Economic Development of Latin America since Independence will be published by Oxford University Press later this year.
The prize citation (in Spanish) praises the authors for an “excellent synthesis” of 200 years of Latin American economic history that also contributes insightful statistical findings and penetrating analysis. While academically rigorous, the citation continues, the book is written in a style accessible to a general audience.
This is the second year in a row the prize was won by a SIPA faculty member: Former SIPA Dean and current University Provost John Coatsworth received the 2011 award for Living Standards in Latin American History (Harvard 2010), a collection of essays that he co-edited with Amílcar Challú and Ricardo Salvatore.
Ocampo and Bértola will be recognized at a ceremony in Barcelona on Sept. 6, held in conjunction with the association’s annual meeting and 40th-anniversary celebration.