Why Are We a Third World Country?

Investigaciones y productos CID N° 13 - Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia

154 Pages Posted: 26 Dec 2012 Last revised: 29 Dec 2012

Juan Jacobo Pavejau

National University of Colombia

Date Written: December 11, 2012


Experts in Economic, Administrative, and Human Sciences in Colombian universities should ask themselves: Why are we a third world country? This concern should also affect the members of all professional disciplines, as it is compulsory to identify and understand the possible causes of this condition. And, in asking, the student must continue to inquire about the developmental delays, oppressive violence, limited education, sustained poverty and religious manipulation experienced by Colombian people since the country’s founding. It is also important to pay close attention to Colombia’s close neighbor, The United States of America, as it is also a young nation that started as a colony, yet it became a world power.

By presenting 20 hypotheses developed over years of observation, this work challenges the reader to contemplate Colombia’s present socio-economic situation. It confronts all facets of established thought, with the intention of encouraging critical and objective reflection and constructive debate. Social researchers should verify these hypotheses to the scientific method and confirm or deny each of them with solid and constructive arguments.

These hypotheses are interconnected and fundamentally based on one underlying deficiency: lack of quality education. Furthermore, this work looks at how the Establishment and the Catholic Church have used education as a source of manipulation and domination that has ultimately delayed knowledge and hindered development. The first ten hypotheses deal with deficient management and the local economy. They focus on strategic planning, essential ideology, teamwork, inventory planning, accounting, standard cost, research and development, the spirit to last and human resource management. The remaining hypotheses are related to social and cultural idiosyncrasies and focus on the impact associated with persistent greed, inversion of values, inherent corruption, business impermanence, corporate protectionism, fiscal evasion, and violence.

This work does not have any pretension of being the solution. It seeks only to make a modest contribution in transforming Colombia into a more educated and competitive nation.

Notes: Downloadable document is in Spanish

Keywords: Colombia, causes of underdevelopment, accounting, management, education, global economy

JEL Classification: A10, H1, H3

Suggested Citation

Pavejau, Juan Jacobo, Why Are We a Third World Country? (December 11, 2012). Investigaciones y productos CID N° 13 - Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia . Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2193793 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2193793

Juan Jacobo Pavejau (Contact Author)

National University of Colombia ( email )

Carrera 30 45-03
Bogota, None

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