5. • Christopher Columbus-Sept.1502
• First Permanent Colony-1563
• Tough and unpopular place to
settle, with few easily exploited
resources.
• The early settlers who came to
Costa Rica were left largely to
their own devices.
Costa Rica – “Rich Coast”
6. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Other Cultural Traits:
• Environmental Sustainability
• Little Leisure Time
• Politically Neutral
• High Context
• High Contact
• Impatience seen as
unfavorable
• “Over painting pictures”
• Tight Social Network
7. Costa Rica’s Economic Base
• Low Power Distance (Lowest in the Region),Collectivistic, Feminine society
(considered to be the most Feminine society in Latin America; few countries in
the world score more Feminine)
• Setting itself apart from its Central American neighbors
• political stability
• high standard of living
• well-developed social benefits system
• well educated population – 6.9% of GDP expenditure
• social spending – 20% of GDP annually - goal of providing universal access to education,
healthcare, clean water, sanitation, and electricity.
• No military
• High Urbanization
• Urban population: 75.9% (2014)
8. Language, Religion & Ethnicity
• Religion
• Religious Freedom
• Roman Catholic 76.3%,
Evangelical 13.7%,
Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%,
other Protestant 0.7%,
other 4.8%, none 3.2%
• Language
• Spanish & English
• Ethnicity
• Costa Rican
• Mixed Blood
• white or mestizo 83.6%,
mulato 6.7%, indigenous
2.4%, black of African
descent 1.1%,
9. Population
• Collectivistic & Feministic Society
• Since the 1970s, expansion of social services has led to a rapid decline in infant
mortality, an increase in life expectancy at birth, and a sharp decrease in the birth
rate.
• Costa Rica's poverty rate is lower than in most Latin American countries, but it
has stalled at around 20% for almost two decades.
10. Demographic Statistics
• Median age:
• 30 years
• Population growth rate:
• 1.24% (2014)
• Birth rate:
• 16.08 births/1,000 population
(2014)
• Death rate:
• 4.49 deaths/1,000 population
(2014)
• Infant mortality rate:
• 8.7 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life expectancy at birth:
• 78.23 years
• Total fertility rate:
• 1.91 children born/woman (2014)
11. GDP Breakdown
• Gross National Saving
• 16.7% of GDP (2014)
• 16.2% of GDP (2013)
• GDP – Consumption, by end user: (2014)
• Household Consumption: 64.9%
• Government Consumption: 18.1%
• Investment in fixed capital: 22%
• Investment in inventories: 0.6%
• Exports of goods and services: 36.2%
• Imports of goods and services: -41.8%
• GDP – composition, by sector of origin: (2014)
• Agriculture:6%
• Industry: 20.5%
• Services: 73.4%
12. Human Development Index - 0.763
• World Ranking - 68
• Physicians density:
• 1.11 physicians/1,000 population (2013)
• Hospital bed density:
• 1.2 beds/1,000 population (2012)
• Sanitation facility access:
• 93.9% of population
• HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
• 0.23% (2013 est.)
• HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
• 7,600 (2013 est.)
• Major infectious diseases:
• degree of risk: intermediate
• Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can
read and write
• 97.8%
• School life expectancy
• 14 years
• Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
• 18.4%
13. • Division of Labor by Gender
• Women are still responsible for food preparation, childcare, and cleaning.
• Heavy agricultural labor is performed by men and adolescent boys. Women harvest
coffee, cotton, and vegetables.
• The Relative Status of Women and Men
• A 1994 Law for Promoting the Women's Social Equality prohibited discrimination and
established a women's rights office.
• There is a very high acceptance for women in business.
• Suffrage for women was introduced in 1948 and half of the country’s university students
are female.
• Strong attributes of a feministic society.
14. Labor Force
• Labor force:
• 2.257 million
• Labor force - by occupation:
• agriculture: 14%
• industry: 22%
• services: 64% (2006 est.)
• Unemployment rate:
• 8.5% (2014 est.)
15. Economic Freedom
• Economic freedom score is 67.2
• 51st freest in the 2015 Index
• Open Markets
• Trade Freedom: 83.8
• Investment Freedom: 70.0
• Financial Freedom: 50.0
• Costa Rica’s average tariff rate is 3.1 percent
• Domestic and foreign investors are treated similarly, but investment in some sectors
of the economy is restricted.
• The growing financial sector has gradually become more open to competition, but
state-owned banks continue to dominate the sector.
16. Immigration
• Unlike the rest of Central America, Costa Rica is not highly dependent on
remittances, which in 2013 represented 1.1% of GDP. Immigration from
Nicaragua has increasingly become a concern for the government.
• Almost 9% of the population is foreign-born, with Nicaraguans comprising
nearly three-quarters of the foreign population. 300-500 thousand Nicaraguans
(legally and illegally)
• Many attracted by the low power distance and feministic qualities of the
country.
17. Costa Rica’s Economic Development
• Economic development has focused on orienting the economy to the global
marketplace. Costa Rica has one of the highest levels of foreign direct investment
in Latin America. Cultural ideals such as collectivism, high education levels, high
uncertainty avoidance, feminism, low power distance and a concern for
environmental sustainability has facilitated a business environment based on
tourism, agriculture, and more recently technology.
18. Foreign Direct Investment
• Foreign investors remain attracted by the country's political stability and
relatively high education levels, as well as the incentives offered in the free-
trade zones.
• CAFTA- has increased foreign direct investment in key sectors of the economy,
including the insurance and telecommunications.
• However, poor infrastructure, high energy costs, bureaucracy, weak investor
protection, and legal uncertainty due to the difficulty of enforcing contracts
remain impediments to greater competitiveness.
• FDI Inflow: $2.7 billion (2014)
19. Agricultural
• Agricultural land: 37.1%
• Commercial Farming
• 6% of GDP, 14% of Labor Force (2014)
• 15% GDP, 19% of Labor Force (1997)
• Climate with warm summers, mild winters,
and a plentiful rainfall
• Mediterranean Cropping, Ranching,
Horticulture and Fruit Farming
• Bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons,
ornamental plants, sugar, corn, rice, beans,
potatoes; beef, poultry, dairy; timber
20. Industries
• Industries:
• medical equipment, food processing, textiles and
clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic
products
• Industrial production growth rate:
• 4.7% (2014 est.)
• Major Industries:
• Since the mid-1980s, Costa Rica has become a
center for factories that assemble garments,
electronic components, and other goods for export.
Other key manufactures include baseballs,
agricultural chemicals, and processed foods. The
economy is increasingly integrated into global
circuits of trade, production, and finance.
21. ECO-Tourism
• Since the late 1990s, tourism
has been the second largest
source of income.
• Costa Rica's broken
topography creates numerous
microenvironments.
• One-quarter of country is
practically in its wild state
with rainforests, dry tropical
forest, and savannas.
• Costa Rica has a level of
biodiversity—4 to 7% of the
world total—unmatched by
any other nation its size.
24. Sustainable Energy
• Produces over 90% of its electricity
through renewable means such as
hydroelectric, geothermal and
wind power
• Costa Rica wants to become the
first carbon neutral country in the
world by 2021.
25. Sustainable Agriculture
• Local food
production is
abundant,
rendering costs
for basic items
extremely
affordable for
everyone.
26. Protecting the Environment
• Forest 51.5% of
Costa Rica’s Land
• 25.6% of Land is
Protected
• 45 international
environmental
treaties
• ECO-Tourism
27. Influences of Trade
• Until the 1960s, Costa Rica depended on coffee and bananas for most of its export earnings.
• In the 1960s, beef and sugar assumed greater importance, and the country began to
industrialize.
• In the early 1980s, the state reduced its role in the economy and promoted export-oriented
agriculture and industries.
28. • Traditional agricultural products are still the backbone of commodity export trade, a
variety of industrial and specialized agricultural products have broadened export
trade in recent years.
• High value-added goods and services, including medical devices, have further
expanded exports.
• High uncertainty avoidance has led to foreign investors leading innovation in trade.
• Environmental protection causes the importing of raw materials rather than
extraction, as well a limiting number of port cities.
