Context:

Within the framework of the development of sectoral diagnoses in the Colombian and Latin American context, the need arises to compare which methodological aspects have been relevant in different studies, both specific and general, in order to perform diagnoses in different sectors of the economy. As a basis for comparison, the methodology proposed by the ARCOSES group of Universidad Distrital is used, and a search for related literature is carried out, mainly in the Latin American context.

Method:

This literature review was performed with the following keywords: sector diagnostics, sector analysis, economic sector diagnostic, sectorial assessment. The databases consulted were Dialnet, Iseek, ScienceReseach, Lareferencia, Scielo, Redib, BASE, Springer Link, Scopus, and Science Direct. Documents that applied a sectoral diagnosis or investigated methodological aspects were selected. Later, an analysis of each work was carried out, comparing it with the variables proposed by the ARCOSES group.

Results:

No significant differences were found between national and international methodologies; many works started from data and information collection, to later perform descriptive statistics. In others, more specific tools and methods were implemented, depending on that to be evaluated in the sector. Some diagnoses had theoretical and conceptual frameworks, in addition to hypotheses, which would be accepted based on inferential statistics. It is worth highlighting the future importance of this subject, due to the several issues associated with many economic sectors regarding environmental, social, and political factors.

Conclusions:

There is great difficulty in designing a general use methodology. Therefore, starting from previous methodologies is recommended, as well as carrying out relevant modifications according to the studied sector. In addition, the importance of data and information collection phase for a sector is highlighted, since it can pose many challenges, increasing the time it takes to carry out diagnoses. From academia, future research can be oriented towards the design of methodologies that allow efficiently finding data and information that are useful for the economic growth of a sector.

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