Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic has created a crisis that is challenging national and local governments to innovate in their response to novel problems. Despite similarities to the challenges confronted in developed countries, Latin American governments face these problems amplified by structural obstacles such as social inequalities. These countries need to respond with capacities and resources often limited by spoils systems, as well as social and political polarization. In this context, we provide an overview of some innovative practices happening in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and México. In particular, we concentrate on some salient collaborative efforts in the region. To draw some lessons from these practices, we focus on the formal and informal institutions that facilitate or obstruct collaborations across jurisdictions. Moreover, we discuss our findings in terms of transaction costs for collaboration identified in these experiences.