bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Information Diffusion in International Markets
Authors: Olarreaga Marcelo , Morriset Jacques , Izquierdo Alejandro
Published: March 2024

Specific information on trade and financial markets across international borders is costly to acquire. Sellers and buyers rely instead on information obtained from partner behavior in other countries. Three channels are identified through which information is disseminated in import and equity markets of 14 OECD countries. The first consists of information spillovers from commercial to financial markets and vice-versa. We find strong evidence in support of the first direction and some for the reverse, suggesting that traders use common information, frequently from the same sources, such as financial intermediaries. The second and third channels emphasize seller and buyer reputation in third markets. They are equally important in explaining bilateral import flows, but buyer reputation appears to be more relevant for equity flows. All three channels may help better explain contagion effects across markets and countries.
Is Latin America on the Right Track?: An Analysis of Medium-Term Frameworks and the Budget Process
Authors: Filc Gabriel , Scartascini Carlos
Published: March 2024

Medium Term Fiscal Frameworks (MTFs) have become one of the most popular reforms to the budgetary process in Latin America during the last decade, and introducing MTFs seemed to be the magic solution for most fiscal ailments. Nonetheless, there has been no comprehensive evaluation of their impact. This document discusses the normative merits of using MTFs, provides a characterization of the different types of MTF, and describes their development in the Latin American region based on extensive field work. As a first approximation for understanding how they are working, this document explores in detail the cases of Argentina, Colombia and Peru. While an unambiguous diagnosis is not possible, this document lays the groundwork for progress toward comprehensive impact evaluations and, eventually, to the consolidation of MTFs in the region.
The Electoral Consequences of the Washington Consensus
Authors: Lora Eduardo , Olivera Mauricio
Published: March 2024

This paper assesses how electoral outcomes in both presidential and legislative elections in Latin America have been affected by the adoption of economic policies that seek to improve macroeconomic stability and facilitate the functioning of markets. The database includes 17 Latin American countries for the period 1985-2002, and a total of 66 presidential and 81 legislative elections. The set of testable hypotheses is derived from a review of the literature and is structured around the hypothesis of economic voting. It is found that (i) the incumbents party is rewarded for reductions in the rate of inflation and, to a lesser extent, for increases in the rate of growth; (ii) the more fragmented or ideologically polarized the party system, the higher the electoral rewards of reducing the inflation rate or raising the economic growth rate; (iii) voters care not only about economic outcomes, but also about some of the policies adopted: while the electorate seems blind to macroeconomic policies such as fiscal or exchange-rate policies, it is averse to pro-market policies, irrespective of their effects on growth or inflation; and (iv) the electorate is more tolerant of pro-market reforms when the incumbents party has a more market-oriented ideology. These results suggest that reforming parties have paid a hefty price for the adoption of pro-market reforms, except when such reforms have been undertaken in conjunction with stabilization policies in high-inflation economies.
On Foreign Participation and Hiring Patterns After Privatization
Authors: Chong Alberto E. , Galdo Virgilio
Published: March 2024

Critics of globalization claim that foreign ownership of privatized firms is linked to negative post-privatization labor outcomes, such as more firing and less hiring. This paper uses new firm-level data for a cross section of countries to test this idea and provides evidence that foreign purchasers of state-owned enterprises tend to acquire firms that were already better restructured before privatization. Additionally, this paper does not find evidence that foreign participation in privatized firms is linked to negative labor outcomes.
The Under-Registration of Births in Latin America
Authors: Stone Leslie F. , Olgiati Analía , Duryea Suzanne
Published: March 2024

Approximately 14 percent of births are unregistered in Latin America according to estimates by UNICEF (2001). Children who lack an official birth certificate can be denied access to social services, including enrolling in school and accessing health services. This paper examines the under-registration of births in six Latin American countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Nicaragua) using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Under-registration of children younger than 5 is found to range from 8.4 percent in Peru to 25.8 percent in the Dominican Republic. Striking regional differences are found in all six countries.
Sovereign Debt: Indexation and Maturity
Authors: Kanczuk Fabio , Alfaro Laura
Published: March 2024

In this paper we review the literature on sovereign debt with particular emphasis on indexation and maturity and the main policy proposals related to these topics. We also advance some implications derived from our work. In Alfaro and Kanczuk (2005a, b, c), we modeled sovereign debt as a contingent claim following the framework developed by Grossman and Van Huyck (1988). Our framework, however, recognizes that contingent debt might be associated with incentive problems. Applying this framework to the study of the sustainability of sovereign debt, the tradeoff between nominal and indexed debt, and the optimal debt maturity, we find some of the proposals advanced in the literature regarding lengthening debt maturity and issuing nominal debt to be unsustainable in emerging (volatile) economies.
The Elusive Costs of Sovereign Defaults
Authors: Levy Yeyati Eduardo , Panizza Ugo
Published: March 2024

Few would dispute that sovereign defaults entail significant economic costs, including, most notably, important output losses. However, most of the evidence supporting this conventional wisdom, based on annual observations, suffers from serious measurement and identification problems. To address these drawbacks, we examine the impact of default on growth by looking at quarterly data for emerging economies. We find that, contrary to what is typically assumed, output contractions precede defaults. Moreover, we find that the trough of the contraction coincides with the quarter of default, and that output starts to grow thereafter, indicating that default episode seems to mark the beginning of the economic recovery rather than a further decline. This suggests that, whatever negative effects a default may have on output, those effects result from anticipation of a default rather than the default itself.
International Remittances and Income Inequality: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Koechlin Valerie , León Gianmarco
Published: March 2024

The aim of this paper is to provide comprehensive empirical evidence on the relationship between international remittances and income inequality. In simple cross-country regressions we find a non-monotonic link between these two variables when using ordinary least squares, instrumental variables; we also test our hypothesis using dynamic panel data methods. We provide evidence in support of existing theoretical work that accounts for network effects that describe how, in the first stages of migration history, there is an inequality-increasing effect of remittances on income inequality. Then, as the opportunity cost of migrating is lowered due to these effects, remittances sent to those households have a negative impact on inequality. We also show how education and the development of the financial sector can help countries to reach the inequality-decreasing section of the curve more quickly. Our results are robust to several empirical specifications, as well as for a wide variety of inequality measures.
What Do Latin Americans Think of the IDB?
Authors: Bassi Marina
Published: March 2024

Using the Latinobarómetro survey, this paper examines Latin Americans perceptions of the IDB, the World Bank and the IMF. The study analyzes how peoples knowledge and evaluation of these multilateral organizations are affected by the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents, the country where they live, the financial position of the IDB in that country, macroeconomic conditions and interviewees political orientation and attitudes towards democracy and free markets. The results indicate both good and bad news for the IDB. Negatively, it is the least-known of the three international organizations; but positively, it is the best rated among those familiar with them. Demographic variables and socioeconomic levels are important determinants of who knows these organizations. In terms of grading, the demographic characteristics of the respondent seem to have no impact. Conversely, economic status, macroeconomic conditions (to some extent), and the political orientation of the respondent are significant determinants of peoples evaluation.
On Emerging Economy Sovereign Spreads and Ratings
Authors: Powell Andrew , Martínez Juan Francisco
Published: March 2024

This paper analyzes alternative models for emerging sovereign ratings. Although a small number of economic fundamentals explain ratings reasonably well, variations in those economic fundamentals are themselves explained by a small number of world factors. On the other hand, global financial variables associated with risk aversion are additionally required in order to explain the significant spread compression at the end of 2006. To determine whether ratings matter for spreads, the paper compares results across different methodologies, in particular exploiting differences in opinion between rating agencies. The evidence from this and previous methodologies is that ratings do matter. Finally, the paper finds that global indicators of risk aversion have become less important for emerging market spreads and that the effect of sub-prime news is less than the effect of average news on emerging economy credit default swap (CDS) spreads.
Political Participation and Quality of Life
Authors: Weitz-Shapiro Rebecca , Winters Matthew S.
Published: March 2024

Theoretical literatures on procedural utility and the psychological benefits of political participation suggest that people who participate in political activities will be more satisfied with their lives because of the resulting feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Individual-level data from Latin America showin one dataset under study but not in anothera positive and statistically significant relationship between voting and life satisfaction. Variation in desire to vote as measured in Costa Rica, however, suggests that the causal arrow may run from happiness to voting. The use of multilevel models further reveals a consistentbut untheorizedcross-country negative relationship between enforced compulsory voting and happiness. Only preliminary results are found regarding the relationship between some other forms of political participation and life satisfaction.
Measuring Quality of Life in Latin America: What Happiness Research Can (and Cannot) Contribute
Authors: Graham Carol
Published: March 2024

This paper addresses the issues involved in taking a broader, quality of life-based approach rather than an income-based approach to assessing welfare. Te paper shows how a quality of life approach can help to evaluate the welfare effects of factors ranging from health, education, and unemployment to institutional arrangements such as inequality and opportunity. Nonetheless, directly inferring policy implications is problematic because norms and expectations influence the way in which individuals respond to surveys and the definition of happiness is unclear. The latter allows for research comparisons across individuals and cultures but presents challenges as a basis for policymaking.
Do Welfare Programs Damage Interpersonal Trust?: Experimental Evidence from Representative Samples for Four Latin American Cities
Authors: Chong Alberto E. , Ríos Vanessa , Ñopo Hugo R.
Published: March 2024

This paper argues that welfare programs are linked with the destruction of social capital, as measured by interpersonal trust in laboratory games. The paper employs experimental data for representative samples of individuals in four Latin American capital cities (Bogota, Lima, Montevideo, and San Jose), finding that participation in welfare programs damage trust. This result is robust to the inclusion of individual risk measures and a broad array of controls. The findings also support the notion that low take-up rates may be due to stigma linked with trust and social capital, rather than transaction costs.
Television and Divorce: Evidence from Brazilian Novelas
Authors: Chong Alberto E. , La Ferrara Eliana
Published: March 2024

This paper studies the link between television and divorce in Brazil by exploiting variation in the timing of availability of the signal of Rede Globo -the network that had a virtual monopoly on telenovelas in the countryacross municipal areas. Using three rounds of Census data (1970, 1980 and 1991) and controlling for area fixed effects and for time-varying characteristics, the paper finds that the share of women who are separated or divorced increases significantly after the Globo signal becomes available. The effect is robust to controlling for potential determinants of Globos entry strategy and is stronger for relatively smaller areas, where the signal reaches a higher fraction of the population.
The Political Economy of Productivity: Actors, Arenas, and Policies. A Framework of Analysis
Authors: Murillo Maria Victoria , Tommasi Mariano , Scartascini Carlos
Published: March 2024

Following the research strategy put in practice in the project behind Stein et al. (2008), Policymaking in Latin America: How Politics Shapes Policies, this project will be a collective and interactive process among various country teams and the coordinators. We will build a number of country studies structured around a common set of questions. The objective of this paper is to put together some theoretical axes as well as a number of guiding questions to serve as background to the country studies, but the overall comparative framework will be jointly developed throughout the project with feedback from and cross-fertilization among the country studies.
The Gender Wage Gap in Peru 1986-2000: Evidence from a Matching Comparisons Approach
Authors: Ñopo Hugo R.
Published: March 2024

Applying the methodology developed in Ñopo (2004), this paper analyzes the evolution of the gender wage gap in Peru from 1986 to 2000. This methodology has two advantages. First, it recognizes that the supports of observable characteristics distributions differ substantially. Second, it provides deeper insights regarding the distribution of the unexplained gender differences in earnings. For the period under analysis, males earn on average 45 percent more than females. This wage gap is composed of three additive elements: 11 percent differences in supports, 6 percent differences in distributions of individual characteristics and 28 percent unexplainable differences. About half of these unexplainable differences occur in the highest quintile of the wage distribution.
Social Divisions in School Participation and Attainment in India: 1983-2004
Authors: López Bóo Florencia , Niaz Asadullah Mohammed , Kambhampati Uma
Published: March 2024

This study documents the size and nature of boy-girl and Hindu-Muslim gaps in childrens school participation and attainments in India. Individual-level data from two successive rounds of the National Sample Survey suggest that considerable progress has been made in decreasing the Hindu-Muslim gap. Nonetheless, the gap remains sizable even after controlling for numerous socioeconomic and parental covariates, and the Muslim educational disadvantage in India today is greater than that experienced by girls and Scheduled Caste Hindu children. A gender gap still appears within as well as between communities, though it is smaller within Muslim communities. While differences in gender and other demographic and socio-economic covariates have recently become more important in explaining the Hindu-Muslim gap, those differences altogether explain only 25 percent to 45 percent of the observed schooling gap.
Happiness, Ideology and Crime in Argentine Cities
Authors: Schargrodsky Ernesto , Di Tella Rafael
Published: March 2024

This paper uses self-reported data on victimization, subjective well being and ideology for a panel of individuals living in six Argentine cities. While no relationship is found between happiness and victimization experiences, a correlation is documented, however, between victimization experience and changes in ideological positions. Specifically, individuals who are the victims of crime are subsequently more likely than non-victims to state that inequality is high in Argentina and that the appropriate measure to reduce crime is to become less punitive (demanding lower penalties for the same crime).
The Economics of Natural Disasters: A Survey
Authors: Noy Ilan , Cavallo Eduardo A.
Published: March 2024

Natural disasters are by no means new, yet the evolving understanding of their relevance to economic development and growth is still in its infancy. This paper summarizes the state of the economic literature examining the aggregate impact of disasters. The paper reviews the main disaster data sources available, discusses the determinants of the direct effects of disasters, and distinguishes between short- and long-run indirect effects. The paper then examines some of the relevant policy questions and follows up with projections about the likelihood of future disasters. The paper ends by identifying several significant gaps in the literature.
The Political Economy of Fiscal Reform in Latin America: The Case of Argentina
Authors: Bonvecchi Alejandro
Published: March 2024

This paper investigates the political economy of fiscal reform activism in Argentina since the late 1980s. Between 1988 and 2008, tax legislation was changed 83 times, fiscal federal rules 14 times, and budgetary institutions sixteen times. Tax and budgetary reforms moved from centralizing revenue sources and spending authority in the federal government to mild decentralization lately. Fiscal federal rules combined centralization of revenues and management in the federal government with short-term compensations for the provinces. This paper contends that reform activism can be explained by the recurrence of economic and policy shocks while reform patterns may be accounted for as consequences of the decreasing political integration of national parties in a polity whose decisionmaking rules encourage the formation of oversized coalitions. The decrease in political integration weakened the national party leaderships ability to coordinate intergovernmental bargaining, and strengthened the local bosses and factions needed to form oversized coalitions.
Innovation, R&D and Productivity in the Costa Rican ICT Sector: A Case Study
Authors: Hewitt John , Monge-González Ricardo
Published: March 2024

This paper addresses the relationships between innovation, research and development (R&D) and productivity in domestic ICT firms in Costa Rica. Factors considered were the types of innovation outputs produced by domestic ICT firms, the relative importance of innovation inputs, the impacts of innovation on firm productivity, the protection of innovations, and impediments to innovation. While most firms engaged in all types of output and input innovations, they appear to be driven by retaining or increasing market share rather than increasing productivity. Half of firms do not formally protect the intellectual property created by their innovations, are not familiar with methods for protecting innovation or the availability of government grants for such purposes, and face barriers associated with the Costa Rican Patent Office. Other impediments include lack of knowledge about financial resources available and scarcity of human resources. There is also evidence of knowledge spillovers through worker mobility from multinationals operating in Costa Rica to domestic ICT firms.
Decomposing Fertility Differences across World Regions and over Time: Is Improved Health More Important than Women's Schooling?
Authors: Behrman Jere R. , Székely Miguel , Duryea Suzanne
Published: March 2024

There is a recent renewal of interest in the relation between shifts in age structures of populations and various economic outcomes. These shifts are triggered by changes in fertility and mortality that take place some years before becoming apparent in the standard age structure and that may create windows of opportunity for subsequent development. A large number of countries in the world are still experiencing, or probably about to experience, fertility declines. This paper first characterizes differences in fertility and mortality and in related dependency ratios across regions and over time. The paper then uses a panel of 96 countries covering the period 1965-1995 to decompose the differences in fertility rates between developed and developing countries and the differences in fertility between 1960 and 1995 for several developing regions and for 22 individual countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region. These decompositions indicate that the main correlates of fertility differences across space and over time are female schooling and health, with the former having larger associations with differential fertility among regions/countries at a point of time and the latter having larger associations with fertility declines over time. This suggests that the importance of associations of increased female schooling relative to those of improved health may be overstated in the literature, which is substantially based on inferring longitudinal relations from cross-sectional data.
Foreign Aid, Income Inequality, and Poverty
Authors: Chong Alberto E. , Gradstein Mark , Calderón María Cecilia
Published: March 2024

The aim of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the link between foreign aid and income inequality for the period 1973-2002. Since simple cross-country regressions cannot be taken as true time series findings, we also focus on dynamic panel data techniques, which allow accounting for potential simultaneity and heterogeneity problems. We do not find very robust evidence that foreign aid is conducive to the improvement of the distribution of income, even when the quality of institutions is taken into account. This finding is consistent with recent empirical research on aid and growth that shows that such a link is weak at best.
Debt Sustainability under Catastrophic Risk: The Case for Government Budget Insurance
Authors: Valenzuela Patricio , Cavallo Eduardo A. , Borensztein Eduardo
Published: March 2024

Natural disasters are an important source of vulnerability in the Caribbean region. Despite being one of the more disaster-prone areas of the world, it has the lowest levels of insurance coverage. This paper examines the vulnerability of Belizes public finance to the occurrence of hurricanes and the potential impact of insurance instruments in reducing that vulnerability. The paper finds that catastrophic risk insurance significantly improves Belizes debt sustainability. In addition, the methodology employed makes it possible to estimate the appropriate level of insurance, which for the case of Belize is a maximum coverage of US$120 million per year. International organizations can play a role in assisting countries to overcome distortions in insurance markets, as well as in helping to relax internal political resistance to the purchase of insurance policies.
Revisiting Overborrowing and Its Policy Implications
Authors: Otrok Christopher , Chen Huigang , Rebucci Alessandro , Benigno Gianluca , Young Eric R.
Published: March 2024

This paper analyzes quantitatively the extent to which there is overborrowing (i.e., inefficient borrowing) in a business cycle model for emerging market economies with production and an occasionally binding credit constraint. The main finding of the analysis is that overborrowing is not a robust feature of this class of model economies: it depends on the structure of the economy and its parametrization. Specifcally, underborrowing in a production economy is found with the baseline calibration, but overborrowing with more impatient agents and more volatile shocks. Endowment economies display overborrowing regardless of parameter values, but they do not allow for policy intervention when the constraint binds (in crisis times). Quantitatively, the welfare gains from implementing the constrained¬effcient allocation are always larger near crisis times than in normal ones. In production economies, they are one order of magnitude larger than in endowment economies both in crisis and normal times. This suggests that the scope for economy¬widemacro¬prudential policy interventions (e.g., prudential taxation of capital flows and capital controls) is weak in this class of models.
Regionalism and Multilateralism in the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Winters L. Alan
Published: March 2024

The growth of regional trading blocs has been one of the major developments in international relations in recent years. Virtually all countries are members of a bloc and many belong to more than one; more than one third of world trade takes place within such agreements. Regional agreements vary widely, but all have the objective of reducing barriers to trade between member countries and hence, implicitly, of discriminating against trade with other countries. Attheir simplest they merely remove tariffs on intra-bloc trade in goods, but many go beyond that to cover non-tariff barriers and to extend liberalisation to trade investment and other policies.
Nicaragua: A Strengthened Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy
Authors:   Government of Nicaragua
Published: March 2024

This paper describes "Nicaragua's Strengthened Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy" (SGPRS). It reflects years of studies, hard-earned experience, and a deepening consultative process.
Evaluation of Civil Service Systems: Case Study: Jamaica
Authors: Isaacs Hedy
Published: March 2024

This study comprehensively examined institutional arrangements for the management of public employment and human resources in the central government agencies, how these arrangements work and the context of these arrangements. In other words, the study focused on the contexts, structures, practices and the internal and external relationships evident in the CSS of central government agencies.
Institutionality of Poverty Reduction Policies and Programs in Latin America
Authors: Repetto Fabián , Acuña Carlos H.
Published: March 2024

This study is an integral part of the efforts undertaken by the Inter-American Development Bank's Poverty Reduction and Social Protection Network concerning the discussion and dissemination of the lessons learnt on poverty reduction and social development strategies developed in Latin America and the Caribbean. The underlying purpose of this study is twofold.
Fiscal Policy: When Theory Collides with Reality
Authors: Tanzi Vito
Published: March 2024

This paper sketches the outline of "Theory of Fiscal Policy" in its most essential elements and outlines the assumptions implicit in it. It then argues that the reality can be far removed from this theory, at least in some countries.
Dropping Out or Exclusion from Secondary Education?: The Young Peoples' Perspective (The Case of Argentina)
Authors: Sanjuán Ana María
Published: March 2024

This study report includes relevant information about some of the probable reasons why socially disadvantaged youths and adolescents in the region drop out of school. The specific case studied was that of Argentina.
Completing the Doha Round: What Needs to Be Done and Who Needs to Do It
Authors: Schott Jeffrey J.
Published: March 2024

Reviving and completing the Doha Round will pose significant challenges for all the major trading nations in the WTO. This paper examines the causes of the ongoing negotiating impasse, and what needs to be done to restart the WTO talks by late 2006.
The Labor Dimension in Central America and Dominican Republic: Building on Progress (Strengthing Compliance and Enhancing Capacity)
Authors:   Inter American Development Bank
Published: March 2024

The Ministers issued a joint statement at that meeting instructing their Vice Ministers to establish a working group and to issue a report and recommendations to them on efforts to enhance the implementation and enforcement of labor standards and strengthen the labor institutions in the countries of the region. This document contains that report.
What Went Wrong with New Orleans?: Megapolitan Planning for Disaster
Authors: Lang Robert E.
Published: March 2024

This document was commissioned by the Natural Disasters Network of the Regional Policy Dialogue for the VII Hemispheric Meeting celebrated on April 23rd and 24th, 2007.
Trade Policy and Specialization
Authors: Volpe Martincus Christian , Estevadeordal Antoni
Published: March 2024

This paper examines the impact of trade policy on production specialization patterns in ten Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) over the period 1990-2001, and explicitly assesses the potential implications of a trade agreement with the United States.
Is the Washington Consensus Dead?: Growth, Openness, and the Great Liberalization, 1970s-2000s
Authors: Taylor Alan M. , Estevadeordal Antoni
Published: March 2024

According to the Washington Consensus, developing countries' growth would benefit from a reduction in tariffs and other barriers to trade. But a backlash against this view now suggests that trade policies have little or no impact on growth.
Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Latin America: Problems and Opportunities
Authors: Johannsen Julia , Tejerina Luis , Glassman Amanda
Published: March 2024

A working paper summarizing the experiences of conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America, focusing on their challenges and options to improve them.
Trade Logistic and Regional Integration in Latin America & the Caribbean
Authors: Lucenti Krista , Galarza S. Sebastián , Guerrero Pablo
Published: March 2024

During the past few decades, the landscape of the world economy has changed. New trade patterns reflect the globalization of the supply chain and intra-industry trade, and increasing flows between neighboring countries and trading blocs with similar factor endowments. Similarly, the approach to production, trade, and transportation has evolved incorporating freight logistics as an important value-added service in the global production. This integrated approach have become essential, and as such, both the trade agenda and freight logistics are beginning to converge providing an unparalleled opportunity for countries to deepen their integration with neighboring countries and their national performance for transport related services. Consequently, developing countries are finding themselves hard-pressed to adjust their policy agendas to take into account costs not covered in past rounds of trade negotiations.
The Private Health Care Sector and the Provision of Prenatal Care Services in Latin America
Authors: Arrieta Alejandro , García Prado Ariadna , Guillén Jorge
Published: March 2024

Private providers have become an important source of health care in Latin America, yet there is still little documentation on them, especially regarding their role as providers of preventive and public health interventions. This paper uses Demographic and Health Surveys from various Latin American countries to compare the effectiveness of the private and public sectors in providing prenatal care. Although the number of prenatal visits is higher in the private sector, this is not accompanied by better delivery outcomes. We discuss different strategies to improve the role of private providers.
Negotiating Preferential Market Access: The Case of NAFTA
Authors: Estevadeordal Antoni
Published: March 2024

There is a growing interest related to the theoretical analysis of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Nevertheless, there has been as yet very little empirical research on the topic, in particular, on the negotiating dynamics of these types of agreements. This paper attempts to make a contribution in this direction examining the relationship between the two most important market access instruments in the case of NAFTA negotiations: the preferential tariff phase-outs and the accompanying rules of origin (RoO). The traditional literature has viewed market access negotiations solely in terms of tariff (and non-tariff) negotiations. From an analytical point of view, the role of RoO, that is the rules that are designed to determine the origin of products in international trade, has usually been restricted to a "secondary" or "supportive" function. As such, RoO were seen to assist in the application or implementation of other "primary" instruments. In the case of preferential RoO, they help to determine when a particular good will be granted preferential tariff treatment. Using a newly constructed data set this paper estimates a simultaneous equation model where the endogenous variables are the preferential tariff phase-outs between Mexico and the United States and the RoO under the NAFTA agreement. The empirical findings of this paper support the view that in accordance with recent literature, the NAFTA RoO were used as an independent commercial policy instrument with a "primary" market access function as it is the case with the traditional preferential tariffs.
The Food Industry in Brazil and the United States: The Effects of the FTAA on Trade and Investment
Authors: Chaddad Fabio R. , Azevedo Paulo F. , Farina Elizabeth
Published: March 2024

Brazil and the United States are key players in world agricultural and food markets. The agri-food system in both countries is very large in absolute and relative terms. Both are net exporters of agricultural and food products and major recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the food industry. In addition, US food processors hold substantial investment positions abroad. In the 1990s, both countries were actively involved in the formation of regional trade blocs. The United States is a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while Brazil is a member of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). More recently, both countries have been engaged in multilateral negotiations that might eventually create a free trade area from Alaska to Patagonia -the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)-. The aim of this study is to analyze the potential effects of the FTAA on trade and FDI in the Brazilian and US food industries.
The Outlier Sectors: Areas of Non-Free Trade in the North American Free Trade Agreement
Authors: Miller Eric T.
Published: March 2024

Since its entry into force, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been enormously influential as a model for trade liberalization. While trade in goods among Canada, the United States and Mexico has been liberalized to a significant degree, this most famous of agreements nonetheless contains areas of recalcitrant protectionism. The first part of this paper identifies these "outlier sectors" and classifies them by primary source advocating protectionism, i.e., producer interests or governments themselves. The second part of the paper analyzes the characteristics of each source.
The European Window: Challenges in the Negotiation of Mexico's Free Trade Agreement with the European Union
Authors: Zabludovsky Jaime , Gómez Lora Sergio
Published: March 2024

On 1 July 2000 regulations to liberalize trade flows between Mexico and the European Union came into force, after more than six years of diplomatic work and complex negotiations. These regulations are part of the ¿Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLCUEM), which is also one of the components of the Agreement on Economic Association, Political Concertation and Cooperation (¿Global Agreement¿). The Global Agreement through its three components ¿ political dialogue, trade liberalization and cooperation- was at the time the most ambitious agreement ever constituted by the EU. The economic association component included in the Global Agreement ¿ the TLCUEM- was the first overseas free trade treaty and served as an important precedent for later EU negotiations with other Latin American countries. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the reasons that led Mexico and the EU to the constitution of this treaty; to describe the main challenges of the Global Agreement negotiations of different components; and to briefly review the results of the first three years since the TLCUEM enforcement.
Migration and Education Inequality in Rural Mexico
Authors: McKenzie David , Rapoport Hillel
Published: March 2024

This paper examines the impact of migration on education inequality in rural Mexico. Using data from the 1997 National Survey of Demographic Dynamics (ENADID), we first examine the impact of migration on educational attainment for males and females aged 12-15 and 16-18. We then build on the results on attainments to compute education inequality indicators for a large sample of communities throughout Mexico. After instrumenting, we find no significant impact of migration on educational attainment of 12 to 15 year olds. In contrast we find evidence of a strong disincentive effect of migration on schooling levels of 16 to 18 year olds, resulting in less education. This effect is strongest for males and for children of highly educated mothers. As a result of this, migration tends to lower educational inequality, in particular for females, but changes in inequality are driven mainly by reductions in schooling at the top of the education distribution rather than by increases in schooling from relaxing liquidity constraints at the bottom.
Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) in Latin America and the Caribbean: Lessons and Challenges
Authors: Cassidy Thomas
Published: March 2024

This paper provides a review of the status of Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) in Latin American and the Caribbean. It includes a history of EMIS development efforts in the region; an outline of practical lessons learned from earlier EMIS development efforts; the identification of current and emerging challenges for developing EMIS; and the identification of promising examples of the use of better data and information to inform education policy and planning. The study was prepared for the Education Networks 8th Regional Policy Dialogue Meeting held on November 2005 at the IDB headquarters in Washington, DC.
Evaluating a Program of Public Funding of Private Innovation Activities: An Econometric Study of FONTAR in Argentina
Authors: Rossi Martín , Ubfal Diego , López Andrés , Chudnovsky Daniel
Published: March 2024

This work contains an evaluation of the Non-Reimbursable Funds (ANR) program of the Argentinean Technological Fund (FONTAR), which is managed by a federal government agency. FONTAR's objective is to fund projects presented by private firms that aim at improving their competitive performance through technological innovation activities. The main goal of this evaluation is to analyze the impact of the ANR program on the innovation activities of granted firms. A series of econometric techniques were used to identify the performance impact for firms that have received a subsidy from FONTAR on relevant outcomes, distinguishing this impact from other factors that could also be affecting the performance of a firm.
Adoption of Soil Conservation Technologies in El Salvador: A Cross-Section and Over-Time Analysis
Authors: Bravo-Ureta Boris E. , Solís Daniel , Cocchi Horacio
Published: March 2024

This paper examines the determinants of adoption of soil conservation technologies among farmers participating in the Environmental Program of El Salvador (PAES). A sample of PAES participants was surveyed in 2002, from which a sub-sample was re-surveyed in 2005 along with a control group of non-participating households. The methodology included two adoption models (Conservation Practices and Conservation Structures) using two separate samples (PAES beneficiaries 2002-2005 and beneficiaries-control group 2005), and two probit models were estimated to examine the disadoption of practices and structures using the 2002-2005 data for PAES beneficiaries. The outcome was PAES beneficiaries have increased significantly the area treated with conservation between 2002 and 2005. This working paper is one of three evaluations commissioned by OVE on the impact of the Programa Ambiental de El Salvador (PAES), as a stand-alone product in the office's 2005-2006 ex-post evaluation cycle.
Does Owning Your Home Make You Happier?: Impact Evidence from Latin America
Authors: Ruprah Inder J.
Published: March 2024

In this working paper, the authors present evidence that homeowners are happier than non-homeowners and it is homeownership that causes the difference in happiness. The data used is from seventeen Latin American countries obtained from the LatinBarometer surveys. The association between homeownership and happiness is measured by an ordered logit regression with a comprehensive set of socio-demographic control variable with errors clustered at year and country. Happiness and ownership are positively and statistically significantly related. Causality is determined through nonparametric impact measure via the propensity score matching technique. Homeownership causes increased happiness. The impact result is robust to the problem of hidden bias. The impact conclusion also holds in a meta-impact approach where impacts are calculated for each country separately. Owning your home makes you happier, at least in Latin America.
Sustainable Forest Management in Latin America: Relevant Actors and Policies
Authors: De Camino Ronnie
Published: March 2024

This paper analyzes the role of particular social and economic actors in the forest sector, and the impact of existing policies in the region. The aim is to visualize the options that are available to improve forest policies and practices that will in turn generate income and ensure sustainability with the active participation of the actors. Information presented in the document, as well as the conclusions on possible strategic lines of action with the participation of affected actors provide a good basis for discussion and will contribute to the improvement of the quality of the Bank's investment projects in this area.
Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review of the Bonn and Marrakech Decisions and Their Effect on the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol
Authors: Della Maggiora Carla
Published: March 2024

This working paper presents an overview of recent climate change developments, in particular with regards to carbon markets under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The first section of this paper describes the history of the climate change negotiations. Section two presents an overview of the recent decisions adopted at the last international meetings (Bonn Agreements and Marrakech Accord), which have improved the odds of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by 2002. The third section analyzes the carbon credit market. The first part of the carbon credit section briefly presents the available information regarding real carbon credit transactions, while the second part focuses on the literature review of several theoretical models and presents the theoretical estimates of the price and size of the carbon market.
The Future of the Latin American Natural Forests
Authors: Dourojeanni Marc J.
Published: March 2024

Included in this working paper is a discussion of the history of deforestation and forest degradation in Latin America and policy recommendations towards conserving natural forests. The author argues that the main opportunity to conserve natural forests may be in the recognition of and payment for the environmental services they provide, and in the production of highly priced "certified green" goods that would make sustainable forest management profitable. Lastly, this paper ends with conclusions and recommendations such as the idea that establishment and better management of strictly protected areas are the best tools to delay the loss of ecosystems and species and reforestation, along with agroforestry, restoration of degraded forests and ecotourism.
Dams, Development, and the Environment in Latin America and the Caribbean: Some Experiences of the Inter-American Development Bank
Authors: Rodríguez Diego J. , Rossi Lorena , García Luis E.
Published: March 2024

This paper begins with a summary of the Bank's involvement with large infrastructure projects, including dams, since the 1960s. In the energy sector, the IDB has provided financing for the construction of a large number of hydroelectric projects. A large proportion of IDB's financing for dam-related projects has gone to energy generation and irrigation, with a relative priority given to energy generation. This paper presents the Bank experience with environmental management issues, and the highly controversial social issue of involuntary resettlement. It continues by summarizing the emerging experience of the IDB with private sector financing for dam-related investments, and finalizes with a brief discussion of some of the more challenging issues now facing institutions like IDB, with this type of involvement.
Rethinking Forest Resource Use Contracts in Latin America
Authors: Hardner Jared J. , Rice Richard
Published: March 2024

This study challenges the current design of forest resource use contracts in Latin America. Radical rethinking of forest resource contracts is imperative, due to the constraints that now face the successful achievement of forest policy objectives of economic development and conservation of forest resources. The constraints identified in this study include: 1) financial incentives that favor selective logging rather than management in tropical forests; 2) lack of a technical basis for silviculture in neo-tropical forests; 3) governments that lack the administrative capacity and political will to impose management; 4) cultural and social norms that fail to recognize local users of forest resources. This study is intended to serve as a turning point in forest concession policy and provide useful guidelines for policy analysts, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral lending institutions interested in facilitating this process. A comprehensive rethinking of forest resource contracts will greatly benefit all those relying on the economic development and conservation of forests in Latin America.
Demand and Supply-Side Determinants of Conditional Cash Transfer Program Effectiveness: Improving the First-Generation Programs
Authors: Heinrich Carolyn
Published: March 2024

The Programa Nacional de Becas Estudiantiles is a conditional cash transfer program designed to promote long-term human capital accumulation among Argentine youth and to reduce poverty. This study follows a 1999 cohort of students from 24 schools for five years. Propensity score matching methods are used with a comparison group of students who were excluded due to quotas to estimate the average and marginal impacts of the Becas program. Multilevel methods are also used to estimate the contributions of Becas program management and school characteristics in explaining variation between schools in student outcomes. The results show significant effects of the Becas program in increasing attendance, reducing grade repetition and improving students' performance. The impacts were largest for students who received the scholarship for more than one year, suggesting a dynamic incentive may have been established by linking receipt of the scholarship in subsequent years to students' academic performance in the first year of participation. The multilevel analysis suggested that efforts to strengthen institutional capacity and conditions for learning in the schools and to promote better management and communication also contributed to student performance.