bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Environmental Implications of Peri-urban Sprawl and the Urbanization of Secondary Cities in Latin America
Authors: Da Gama Torres Haroldo
Published: March 2024

This paper examines the environmental and social implications of peri-urban growth in small to medium sized cities in Latin America and the Caribbean and proposes approaches to address this challenge. Key recommendations include cities should stimulate strategies for compact growth and efforts to regularize existing irregular settlements should be strongly supported, among other recommendations.
Dedollarization, Indexation and Nominalization: The Chilean Experience
Authors: Herrera Luis Oscar , Valdés Rodrigo
Published: March 2024

This paper is part of the project "Financial Dedollarization: Policy Options" launched by the Inter-American Development Bank. The purpose of the project is to contribute to the policy dialogue on the macroeconomic and prudential risks associated with financial dollarization as well as to evaluate the costs and benefits of alternative financial dedollarization strategies. The project aims at providing guidance on the design of cost-effective policy instruments to reduce financial dollarization, including selective prudential regulation and the development of attractive new markets and instruments in local currency. It focuses on domestic asset holders, as opposed to foreign investors, as the primary targets of a dedollarization strategy. This paper revisits the Chilean experience with dollarization, indexation and nominalization in the 1958-2003 period. The purpose is to understand how Chile generally avoided dollarization and actually dedollarized in the 80s in order to draw some lessons for other countries. This is one of several studies discussed in an IDB/WB Conference at the Inter-American Development Bank, December 1-2, 2003.
Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies: The Creation and Development of New Firms in Latin America and East Asia
Authors: Kantis Hugo , Ishida Masahiko , Komori Mashahiko
Published: March 2024

This report presents the results of a comparative study of entrepreneurship in Latin America and East Asia. It focuses on the process of creation of new companies. That process is analyzed at three different stages: inception of the entrepreneurial venture, company start-up, and its early development. From the initial motivation to become an entrepreneur to the contacts needed to help solve problems as the business gets underway and grows, a number of factors affect the behavior of potential entrepreneurs. This study aims to identify the leading factors that stimulate or limit entrepreneurship at each stage of the entrepreneurial process in Latin America and East Asia. These leading factors are analyzed, a number of conclusions are drawn, and policy recommendations are reached for promoting entrepreneurship in different socio-economic contexts.
Agricultural Credit Card Innovation: The Case of Financiera Trisan
Authors: Quirós Rodolfo , Wenner Mark D.
Published: March 2024

The purpose of this paper is to analyze a program that extends credit cards to agricultural input suppliers and rural producers in Costa Rica and to determine whether this program is financially viable and potentially replicable in other rural areas of Latin America. A credit card program is very innovative and unusual for a rural setting. Normally, credit cards have been promoted in urban areas with business firms and salaried employees who have steady cash flows. Credit cards in rural areas are not as common because potential clients, especially agricultural producers, have more seasonal and uncertain monthly cash flows. This paper seeks specifically (1) to recount the genesis of an agricultural credit card program; (2) to describe the product, the typical client, and service delivery methodology; (3) to analyze the financial performance of this product; and (4) to conclude with outstanding challenges facing the expansion and replication of the product.
SME Competitiveness: The Power of Networking and Subcontracting
Authors: Berry Albert
Published: March 2024

While there has been some progress on other aspects of SME policy (especially credit provision), it is generally recognized that "linkage-inducing" policy, is for the most part and in most places, a new and experimental area, with considerable potential. The purpose of this document is to identify best practices) to increase the contribution of inter-firm cooperation to the efficiency of industrial sectors, and to identify how IDB programs and projects may facilitate such cooperation.
Overcoming the Challenges of Cooperation: The Case of Joint Upgrading in Guadalajara's Apparel Industry
Authors: Lowe Nichola J.
Published: March 2024

This paper examines local efforts to facilitate interactive learning and knowledge sharing among small and medium-sized apparel manufacturers in Guadalajara, Mexico. It focuses on a government-sponsored training program that gets design-oriented and technologically-advanced producers (most of which are of medium size) to team up with their less experienced local counterparts. Under the close supervision of skilled mentor firms, smaller-sized and bare bones manufacturers from Guadalajara's historic apparel cluster are experimenting with higher-valued added processes, like product design, marketing and full-package production. Close attention is paid to the innovative planning practices of and adaptive problem-solving techniques used by program administrators as they attempt to secure a commitment to mentoring from local firms, help those active in mentoring over-come the real challenges and constraints of cooperation and sustain joint upgrading efforts by helping participants realize the larger developmental value of this form of dynamic collective action.
Economic and Health Effects of Occupational Hazards in Latin America and the Caribbean
Authors: Giuffrida Antonio , Iunes Roberto F. , Savedoff William D.
Published: March 2024

This study describes the health dimension and some economic aspects of occupational safety in Latin America and the Caribbean. The study is the result of a joint effort by the IDB's Region 3 and Sustainable Development Departments which was undertaken to identify the major trends and issues related to improving occupational safety in Latin America and the Caribbean. It shows that the region has a very high disease burden in this area, and that economic patterns of employment and public regulatory responses make these health problems more acute than in Europe or North America. The paper was discussed at an IDB conference entitled "International Conference on Occupational Safety and Health" in June 2000, and served to draw attention to these important issues. The study provides a firm grounding from which to address the dearth of policies in occupational safety, and it will help guide future IDB activities in this sector. It represents one modest step along the way to a future of safer working conditions and better health in the region.
Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Framework for Action
Authors: Shifter Michael , Buvinic Mayra , Morrison Andrew
Published: March 2024

Considering the high prevalence of domestic and social violence and their linkages, the focus of this analysis is the broader subject of violence rather than the narrower one of criminal violence. A violent act may or may not contravene existing legislation and consequently may or may not be labeled as "criminal" by the criminal justice system. What triggers violence in Latin America and the Caribbean? What can be done to curb violence, both within the home and outside it? What can be learned from the region's experience with violence? To help answer these questions, this paper presents a classification of types of violence, charts some of the principal socio-economic costs that result from violence, and identifies the principal contributing or risk factors. It also attempts to link policy recommendations for reducing violence to the factors that generate it. Finally, the paper outlines broad priority areas for future action to reduce violence in the region.
Assessment of Participatory Budgeting in Brazil
Authors:   Inter American Development Bank
Published: March 2024

The main objective of the study is to assess the extent to which participatory budgeting (OP) is fostering the efficient and democratic allocation of resources and citizen involvement in the planning and management of their localities. The report draws upon extensive field research undertaken by the Center for Urban Development Studies in: Porto Alegre, the initiator of the OP in 1989; Gravatai, an industrial city in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area; Caxias do Sul an urban center in a predominately rural area; Belo Horizonte, which implemented the first participatory housing budget (OPH); Santo Andre, in the Sao Paulo metropolitan region, the city which has interlinked its participatory planning and budgeting processes; and, Rio Grande do Sul, the only state to have successfully implemented participatory budgeting.
Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza: Addressing the Need for Integration between Health and Agriculture in the Preparedness Plans in Latin America
Authors: Falconi César , Belotto Albino , Roca Anne , Schneider Cristina , Medici André
Published: March 2024

The recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza have once again brought the issue of the impact of animal diseases on humans to the forefront of the global health agenda. The need for integration between health and agriculture was never more important than now. The objective of this document is to review if this integration exists in countries of the Americas, and in particular if and how it is reflected in the preparedness plans against avian and human pandemic influenza. In this document, the authors present a review of the link between animal and human health and characteristics of the latest threat, Avian Influenza. They also define intersectoral action, measures that are reflected in the subsequent analysis, by subregion, of the intersectoral integration. Their diagnosis then leads us to a series of recommendations on how to improve intersectoral action in the context of Avian Influenza, but with a broader impact on the prevention and control of all zoonotic diseases.
Family Violence and Child Abuse in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Case of Colombia and Mexico
Authors: Ramírez Miguel Ángel , Knaul Felicia Marie
Published: March 2024

The report analyzes the impact of child abuse on children's educational outcomes and adult labor wages, using a human capital framework. It finds robust evidence of the impacts of child violence on school attendance and educational attainment in Colombia and on adult wages in Mexico City. The study also conveys the difficulty of studying the subject. Data limitations are probably behind the lack of significant findings for impacts on wages in Colombia and on education in Mexico City. Despite these difficulties, this report underscores the importance for economic and social development of better documenting family violence against children in the region.
Employment Generation, Firm Size, and Innovation in Chile
Authors: Cuevas Conrado , Benavente José Miguel , Campusano Rolando , Alvarez Roberto
Published: March 2024

This paper compiles and analyzes several sources of information to shed light on the relationship between innovation and employment growth in the manufacturing industry in Chile in the last 15 years. Our overall conclusions are that process innovation is generally not found to be a relevant determinant of employment growth, and that product innovation is usually positively associated with an expansion in employment. These results seem to be similar regardless of firm size and hold for both low- and high-tech industries. Our findings reveal that in-house R&D (make only strategy) is positively related with employment growth. However, this is not the case for the sample of small firms. With respect to employment growth by types of workers, skilled vs. unskilled, the evidence is less robust. However, in-house R&D appears to favor employment growth for both types of workers in low-tech industries.
Innovation Policy and Employment: Evidence from an Impact Evaluation in Argentina
Authors: Castillo Victoria , Maffioli Alessandro , Rojo Sofía , Stucchi Rodolfo
Published: March 2024

This paper presents the evaluation of the Enterprise Restructuring Support Program in Argentina. The aim of the program was to increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises by cofinancing technical assistance that can be classified as either support for process innovation or support for product innovation. Although these types of programs do not primarily aim to create jobs, they are implemented assuming that they do, or at least that they do not destroy jobs. This paper tests this assumption. It compares the impact of each type of support on employment and the type of employment measured by the wages paid by firms to their employees. To control for self-selection into the program, propensity score matching and difference in differences were combined. The study found that by supporting both process and product innovation-related activities, the program was able to create more and better jobs. The effect on wages was also found to be higher when supporting product innovation activities.
User's Guide: IDB Sustainability Scorecard for Private Sector Tourism Projects
Authors:   Inter American Development Bank
Published: March 2024

This self-evaluation "Scorecard" is intended to guide the proposed tourism project representative requesting funding in order that (a) the whole range of practices, from best to counter indicated, will be taken into account for the design, construction, and operation of the tourism project, and so that (b) the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) may understand which aspects of the tourism project are excellent, acceptable, or unacceptable before considering it for financial assessment. A project whose Scorecard has items marked in red is unacceptable for such consideration, and one having items marked in orange must be carefully analyzed by the IDB. The scorecard is online and it can be accessed through the following URL: http://www.iadb.org/tourismscorecard/index.cfm?lang=en
Environmental and Social Value Added in IDB Private Sector Projects
Authors: Felix Filho Jose , Montgomery Robert , Monter Flores Ernesto , Brito Elizabeth , Hoagland-Grey Hilary , Soler Irene , Cardinale Pablo
Published: March 2024

The IDB works hand in hand with borrowers, project sponsors, and stakeholders to ensure that private sector projects financed by the Bank are environmentally and socially sustainable. By working proactively with private-sector project companies, the IDB not only helps to protect environmental and social resources but it adds value that significantly benefits borrowers, sponsors, investors, and local communities. This document describes the substantial environmental and social value added that is provided by PRI participation.
Management Response to the Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Environment for the Inter-American Development Bank
Authors:   Inter American Development Bank
Published: March 2024

The IDB wishes to position itself as a leader amongst multilateral development banks in pursuing sustainability in its operations and in promoting development that is environmentally and socially sound in Latin America and the Caribbean. An important component of this process is the development of the Environment and Safeguards Compliance Policy that will implement the Banks Environmental Strategy approved in 2003. The Draft Policy is currently under public consultation. In 2004, a nine-member advisory group, known as the Blue Ribbon Panel on Environment, was created by IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias to advise on the Bank's new Environment and Safeguards Compliance Policy, and the broader perspective of increasing the Bank's role in supporting countries in the Region to achieve sustainable development. This document contains the IDB management response to the panel's recommendations.
MERCOSUR Report No. 16 (2010-2011) (Summary)
Authors:   Inter American Development Bank
Published: March 2024

MERCOSUR Report No. 16 - July 2010-June 2011 - analyzes the macroeconomic outlook and trade flows of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) countries, as well as the main aspects of the block's integration process, in terms both of its internal and external agendas.
A New Context for Teachers in Latin America and the Caribbean
Authors: Rondón Carlos , Cabrol Marcelo , Bos María Soledad
Published: March 2024

School attendance in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has increased exponentially in the last two decades, almost every child goes to primary school and access to preschool and high school is fast catching up. This increase in access has been mostly led by more attendance to school of previously excluded children and youth -poor, rural and indigenous populations-, which has created a heterogeneous pool of students with very diverse needs, abilities and interests. Based on descriptive statistics on increased access to education and some learning and life outcomes, this paper discusses in detail how the new roles called upon teachers can help improve the quality of education in LAC. This paper concludes with some promising examples on how countries and international organizations are attempting to create a teaching force that can fulfill these roles.
Public Development Banks: Addressing the Challenges of Financing Climate Change Mitigation
Authors: Smallridge Diana , Gomes Lorenzo José Juan , Rattinger Michael Peter
Published: March 2024

Though the need to scale up financing to mitigate climate change and the associated challenges and barriers are well documented, there has been little discussion of the role that can be played by Public Development Banks (PDBs), either national or subnational. These institutions have a privileged position in their local markets, strong knowledge of their countries' development needs, and opportunities and vast experience in long-term investment financing. As a result, they are uniquely positioned to catalyze the supply of financing for and stimulate the demand for investment projects to mitigate climate change within their respective countries. This technical note discusses lessons learned from a number of PDBs within the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region and examples of best practices, processes and products in support of climate change mitigation from PDBs around the world.
Developing and Evaluating Citizen Security Programs in Latin America: A Protocol for Evidence-Based Crime Prevention
Authors: Sherman Lawrence W.
Published: March 2024

This protocol is designed mainly for people working to reduce crime and improve justice in Latin America, but it discusses principles that can be used anywhere in the world. Those principles can be summarized as evidence-based crime prevention, a process by which good evidence on the facts of crime and its prevention is at the heart of theories and programs for promoting citizen security. "Evidence" in this sense is broadly defined as systematic factual observations of all kinds, not just as the forensic details of a criminal case. Evidence is the data developed by scientific methods to observe and predict any kind of truth, including facts about health, education, crime, and justice. A few key principles of evidence-based crime prevention are the following: crime must be measured reliably and precisely by well-audited systems; crime should be classified in whatever way supports crime prevention; and crime should be analyzed in multiple units or categories, including offenders, criminal networks, victims, micro-places (hot spots), communities, times, days of the week, and other categories.
The Environmental and Social Impacts of Major IDB-Financed Road Improvement Projects: The Interoceanica IIRSA Sur and IIRSA Norte Highways in Peru
Authors: Redwood John
Published: March 2024

The Environment and Safeguards Group (ESG) of the IDB has examined how potential environmental and social risks of major Bank-supported road improvement investments in natural resource rich and socio-culturally diverse "frontier" regions have been identified and addressed in various parts of South and Central America. The present paper presents the findings and recommendations for selected ongoing and/or completed IDB-financed road and road related projects in Peru. To the extent possible, the experience and lessons learned from all major parts of the project cycle - design/preparation, up-front environmental assessment, implementation/supervision, and monitoring and evaluation - are considered, as are the analysis and management of direct, indirect and cumulative environmental and social impacts.
So you think you know what drives disbursements at the IDB? Think, think again...
Authors: Álvarez Carola , Bueso-Merriam Jacqueline , Stucchi Rodolfo
Published: March 2024

This paper focuses on the performance of IDB projects between 1996 and 2011 disbursements. We present evidence on the evolution of disbursements with respect to the available funds and the evolution of disbursements with respect to the historic disbursement curve of IDB projects. We also identify the main factors driving disbursements. Our findings show that disbursements improved in the last 10 years; in particular, they improved after the organizational changes instituted after 2006. With respect to the factors driving disbursements, we find that: (i) Country is more important than sector in understanding performance. (ii) Most of the remaining variance in project performance can be explained by variance within each country. (iii) The team leader plays an important role in understanding project performance. (iv) The effect of team leader location on disbursement performance has not been constant over time. The effect is negative for projects approved after 1996. However, if we focus on projects approved after 2009 the effect is positive. This result also provides evidence on the success of the organizational changes undertaken after 2006. (v) Projects that underwent a change in team leader show an improvement in performance after one year of the change. (vi) Team leader characteristics related to the experience or seniority of the team leader are non-significant, though in the expected direction. Team leader may be pointing to other non-observable characteristics of the individual or characteristics of the larger team that supports that team leader in execution and supervision of the project.The effect of team leader location on disbursement performance has not been constant over time. The effect is negative for projects approved after 1996. However, if we focus on projects approved after 2009 the effect is positive. This result also provides evidence on the success of the organizational changes undertaken after 2006. (v) Projects that underwent a change in team leader show an improvement in performance after one year of the change. (vi) Team leader characteristics related to the experience or seniority of the team leader are non-significant, though in the expected direction. Team leader may be pointing to other non-observable characteristics of the individual or characteristics of the larger team that supports that team leader in execution and supervision of the project.
Environmental and Social Analysis: Small Hotels and Resorts
Authors: Arneson Lynn , Hoagland-Grey Hilary , Canter Larry , Ward Natasha
Published: March 2024

The objective of this Technical Note is to describe the necessary Bank requirements for the content of an Environmental and Social Analysis (ESA), with a focus on the particular issues related to small hotel and resort expansions and developments. This Technical Note is a basic document and is designed to assist borrowers (project sponsors) understand what IDB requires on an ESA for a project of this type. This document is not intended to provide a complete or detailed guidance on the preparation of an ESA, but rather the basic requirements.
Environmental Impact Assessments for Cement Plants
Authors: Hoagland-Grey Hilary
Published: March 2024

The objective of this Technical Note is to describe the necessary Bank requirements for the content and disclosure of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs), with a focus on the particular issues related to cement plants. This Technical Note is a basic document and is designed to assist borrowers (project sponsors) in understanding what IDB requires on an ESIA for a proposed cement plant. This document is not intended to provide a complete or detailed guidance on the preparation of an ESIA, but rather the basic ESIA requirements.
When Are Field Experiments with Individual Assignment Too Risky?: Lessons from a Center-Based Child Care Study in Guatemala
Authors: Humpage Sarah D.
Published: March 2024

Randomized controlled trials, prized for generating unbiased estimates of treatment effects, have become popular in development economics. However, RCTs do not always offer sufficient statistical power, which is reduced in experiments with imperfect compliance to treatment assignment. This is of critical importance if effect sizes are modest, and if non-compliance may occur. Both are likely in experiments in center-based childcare programs with individual-level randomization for several reasons. Dropout in the treatment group may occur because families' demand for preschool is unknown when the sample is constructed, and it evolves over time as households experience shocks and as they learn about the center. Non-compliance in the control group arises when children access the program or alternative preschool programs. This paper uses a recent evaluation of the Hogares Comunitarios program in Guatemala to illustrate challenges inherent in experimental evaluations and offers strategies to identify situations in which studies are more likely to succeed.
Insurance Market Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
Authors: Masci Pietro , Webb Ian , Tejerina Luis
Published: March 2024

This paper provides an initial glimpse into the performance of the insurance industry in the region through the use of a broad diagnostic survey. It also provides some descriptive statistics based on survey data. Survey information is used to identify variables and factors affecting insurance market performance in Latin America and the Caribbean, forming the basis for a discussion of policy recommendations. The analysis is a first step toward identifying problems perceived to be of critical relevance to more effective insurance markets in the region.
Principles and practices for regulating and supervising microfinance
Authors: Jansson Tor , Westley Glenn D. , Rosales Ramón
Published: March 2024

This publication is aimed at bank supervisory authorities interested in or charged with developing a regulatory and supervisory framework for microfinance. It is intended to meet a growing demand for clearly identifiable principles and guidelines on how microfinance can be appropriately regulated and supervised. The growing awareness of the potential of microfinance, coupled with the emergence of several highly successful and fast-growing institutions, has effectively put the issue on the political agenda in most developing countries.
Strategies and Structures for Commercial Banks in Microfinance
Authors: Westley Glenn D.
Published: March 2024

This paper is a checklist of all the factors a bank should consider when deciding the type of organizational structure it should use to do microlending. In addition, the paper discusses key best practices banks should follow in order to be successful in microlending in addition to picking the best structure. Some (though not all) of these best practices provide a useful test: if the bank is not willing to follow them, it may be best to stay away from microlending, for the chances of success are greatly diminished. This paper is aimed both at banks entering microfinance and at banks with existing microfinance operations which they may wish to expand or reorganize.
Effects of Innovation on Employment in Latin America
Authors: Crespi Gustavo , Tacsir Ezequiel
Published: March 2024

This study examines the impact of process and product innovation on employment growth and composition in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay using micro data from innovation surveys. Based on the model put forward by Harrison et al. (1998), employment growth is related to process innovations and to the growth of sales separately due to innovative and unchanged products. Results show that compensation effects are pervasive and that the introduction of new products is associated with employment growth at the firm level. No evidence of displacement effects due to the introduction of product innovations was observed. With respect to the impact of innovation on employment composition, there is scant evidence of a skill bias, although product innovation is more complementary to skilled than to unskilled labor.
Options Paper: Reducing Climate Risk in IDB Operations
Authors: Suding Paul Hugo , Iqbal Fareeha Y.
Published: March 2024

This paper explores options to minimize threats posed to IDB-financed physical investments by the impacts of climate change. A large proportion of projects are implemented in climate-sensitive sectors (e.g., agriculture, water resources, and transport). In these cases, the norm is to consider historic climatic trends for guiding project conceptualization and design. However, there is growing realization among international development agencies including the IDB that this may not be sufficient; many multilateral and bilateral development agencies now recognize the need to also consider future changes in long-term trends of climatic variables, as well as the possibility of an intensification or increased frequency of extreme climatic events such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes.
The Business Development Program for Uruguay's Software Industry: Impact Evaluation Case Study
Authors:   Inter American Development Bank,   Dalberg Global Development Advisors
Published: March 2024

As one of its goals, the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) aims to improve the management and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in different sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean. To that end, MIF supports activities that promote the creation and strengthening of support services that will spur development of SMEs and stimulate demand for the use of such services. The Program for the Support of the Software Sector (PASS) in Uruguay presents a good example of how MIF works in tandem with local institutions to strengthen different dimensions of SME development. This case study, prepared based on the PASS impact evaluation conducted five years after project completion, aims to help improve the design, execution, evaluation, and impact of future MIF programs. It is presented as an educational tool for program officers at MIF and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), stakeholders, and potential partnering institutions.
Impact Evaluation of the Program for the Development of Industrial Districts in Brazil
Authors:   Inter American Development Bank,   Dalberg Global Development Advisors
Published: March 2024

This report evaluates the Program for the Development of Industrial Districts in Brazil, launched in 2003 with funding from the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF). The program played an important role in helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) improve productive factors and governance in Brazil. It contributed to the creation and development of the Arranjos Produtivos Locais (APL) concept in Brazil, which has become an important cluster reference and economic development vehicle for Brazil's SME development. The program also heightened public awareness by supporting and promoting public discussions among high-level policy makers about SME development. The evaluation team assessed the program in terms of the following factors: a) The overall project lifecycle and the rationale behind it, as well as the specific industrial districts achievements and goals according to each of the program components; b) The key five dimensions, namely: (i) scope and strategic relevant; (ii) internal quality; (iii) likely impact; (iv) dialog and dissemination and (v) stakeholders and beneficiary roles.
The Program for Industrial Districts in Brazil
Authors:   Inter American Development Bank,   Dalberg Global Development Advisors
Published: March 2024

The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) supports activities that promote the creation and strengthening of support services that will spur development of SMEs and stimulate demand for the use of such services. The Program for the Development of Industrial Districts in Brazil is a good example of how MIF works with local institutions to strengthen different dimensions of SME development. The case study that follows, prepared based on the Industrial Districts Program impact evaluation conducted four years after program completion, aims to contribute to better design, execution, evaluation, and impact of future MIF programs. It is presented as an educational tool for program officers at MIF and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), potential partnering institutions, and other stakeholders.
Sovereign Debt in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Analysis of its Composition and Sustainability
Authors: Giuliano Fernando , Sandleris Guido
Published: March 2024

This paper addresses the solvency of the public sector in Latin American economies. In particular, it analyzes the standardized public debt statistics for the these economies that have been compiled for the LAC Debt Group and the Inter-American Development Bank and the rist associated with the composition of public debt.
Social Assistance and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Uruguayan PANES
Authors: Manacorda Marco , Zerpa Mariana , Amarante Verónica , Vigorito Andrea
Published: March 2024

This paper uses matched social security and program micro data from the Uruguayan Plan de Atención Nacional a la Emergencia Social to investigate the effect of social assistance on formal labor market outcomes. One specific feature of this program is that households could gain and retain eligibility only conditional on their formal income being below a predetermined level. Using a regression discontinuity estimator, we show that, consistent with a textbook model of labor supply, the program reduced formal employment and earnings, primarily among men. Although there is evidence of a modest rebound, by and large the adverse effects on formal labor supply and earnings persist even two years after the end of the program. We speculate that these long lasting effects are due to the dynamic incentives of entitlement for social assistance.
Measurement of Primary Care: Report on the Johns Hopkins Primary Care Assessment Tool
Authors: Shi Leiyu , Pinto Diana M. , Guanais Frederico C.
Published: March 2024

Renewed interest in the Primary Health Care-PHC agenda is a common element of the majority of recent health system reforms throughout Latin America and the Caribbean-LAC. Strengthening of PHC has been recognized as a promising solution to address the major challenges the Region's health systems face. As governments are making substantive long term investments in PHC oriented healthcare reforms, there is a requirement for accountability and increased transparency and reporting on the results of these initiatives. As a consequence, implementation of PHC strategies needs to be accompanied with mechanisms to collect data that will allow assessment of the extent to which primary care processes are being implemented and on their impact of quality, efficiency, cost, equity and consumer satisfaction. The Johns Hopkins Primary Care Assessment Tool or PCAT is amongst the instruments currently available to assess performance of PHC in several dimensions and from the perspective of users, practitioners, and systems. The purpose of this technical document is to provide a description of this instrument including its composition, measurement, functions, uses, and requirements to deploy the tool in practical applications and to discuss the challenges and opportunities to use the tool in the context of the LAC Region.
IDB-9: Macroeconomic Sustainability Assessments
Authors: Suarez David , Puerta Juan Manuel , Reichmann Thomas , Di Tata Juan Carlos , Gray Cheryl
Published: March 2024

One of the most debated parts of the IDB-9 Agreement was the requirement that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or Bank) enhance its macroeconomic analysis and link it to its country programming to avoid lending in unsustainable macroeconomic situations. The IDB-9 Agreement mandated that the Chief Economist prepare annual Macroeconomic Sustainability Assessments for each borrowing country and that a positive judgment on sustainability is one of the prerequisites, among others, for maintaining the Bank's aggregate exposure with the country including both sovereign and non-sovereign operations. OVE finds that the MSA requirement has been substantially implemented but faces many difficulties that seriously impede its likely effectiveness. The quality of the MSAs, though reasonable given the resources allocated, lacks depth in many areas, particularly financial sustainability and inflation. More generally, there is no methodology that could reliably do what is expected: predict macroeconomic crises in the near term. There are few checks and balances in the system, and none relating to the Chief Economist's conclusion and determination of sustainability. The MSA process entails significant costs for the Bank, including in country relations and IDB Board cohesion and collaboration. Though the MSA process has the potential to further the underlying IDB-9 goal of preventing lending in unsustainable macroeconomic situations, the process will not achieve the broader objective of stopping increases in Bank exposure for the foreseeable future: existing IDB disbursement and repayment schedules will lead to increasing exposure in almost all borrowing countries in the coming 5-10 years. OVE suggests that the Governors, the Board, and Management reconsider the design of the MSA process to align benefits and costs more closely. A useful way to think about changes is to "unbundle" the two rationales for MSAs -limiting IDB's credit risk and promoting development effectiveness. The credit risk rationale argues for the type of short-term focus and yes-no decision-making used in the MSAs, and Management may wish to strengthen the ability of its risk management group to perform independent credit risk assessment of the sovereign portfolio. The development rationale argues for a more medium-term instrument with a broader focus, as macroeconomic policies are not the only ones that matter for development. One option would be to strengthen the Bank's Independent Macroeconomic Assessments for policy-based lending, with clear guidelines to ensure their effective coverage and implementation. IDB could also strengthen its macroeconomic and policy analysis through its regular program of economic and sector work. It is clearly feasible for the IDB to have a stronger role than it now has in policy analysis and advice to its borrowing countries.
Implementation Guideline: Economic Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of Project Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures for Waste Water Treatment Projects (WWTPS)
Authors: Dixon John A.
Published: March 2024

The expansion of project analysis to incorporate the environmental effects of a project is a direct descendent of the development of project analysis. Traditional project Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) was developed in the United States in the 1930s to analyze large public investments in the water sector. The goal of the analysis was a simple one: the analysis should demonstrate that projects produce positive net benefits over time; that is, the present value (PV) of benefits should exceed the present value of costs. During the next 50 years, analysts perfected the tools of traditional CBA, including issues such as shadow pricing and the determination of a social discount rate. As experience was gained in project CBA, however, it was noted that important environmental and social impacts of a project were being ignored. This led to actions to explicitly expand the analysis of projects.
Unlocking SME Finance in Argentina with Psychometrics
Authors: Klinger Bailey , Castro Lucio , Szenkman Paula , Khwaja Asim
Published: March 2024

Access to finance remains a challenge for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Argentina. It is a particularly acute problem among newly created SMEs that have a scant credit record and frequently lack collateral. The authors of this paper carried out a pilot test of an innovative psychometric tool aimed at evaluating credit risk among SME clients of Banco Ciudad de Buenos Aires (BCBA), one of the top three public banks of Argentina. SME responses were compared to their historical repayment records to determine if psychometric-based credit scoring models could help ameliorate the constraints to SME finance. A scorecard based on that information and built using international data results in a Gini coefficient between 20 percent and 40 percent: those SMEs rejected by the psychometricbased scorecard with this Gini coefficient have a probability of defaulting that is three to four times greater than those accepted. Along with other policies to reduce information asymmetry in SME lending, such a tool could help relieve constraints to SME finance in Argentina.
Challenges for Global Value Chain Interventions in Latin America
Authors: Staritz Cornelia , Pietrobelli Carlo
Published: March 2024

Value chain interventions are increasingly used by international organizations and national donor agencies in the context of their private sector development strategies. This paper argues that an understanding of Global Value Chains (GVCs), their drivers, and their governance structures is necessary for effective interventions to further enterprise development. The focus of value chain interventions is to improve market access conditions, upgrade opportunities, and change the distribution of risks and benefits in GVCs in favor of developing country firms and producers. The paper offers an overview of relevant interventions by international organizations and donors, and analyzes a sample of IDB value chain projects to develop broad conclusions regarding its value chain approach and logic. However, so far there appears to be limited overview and coordination of and no common understanding or framework for value chain interventions. The paper concludes arguing that a deep and common understanding of core value chain concepts and approaches is needed, and that tailor-made, context-specific upgrading strategies need to be developed and supported. It proposes to consider the potential role of the involvement of lead firms and first-tier suppliers/ intermediaries, and the importance of innovation systems and local learning efforts to enable upgrading processes within GVCs.
Evaluating the Impact of Cluster Development Programs
Authors: Stucchi Rodolfo , Maffioli Alessandro , Pacheco Manuel , Pietrobelli Carlo , Giuliani Elisa
Published: March 2024

Do the programs that aim to promote and develop industry clusters (also known as Cluster Development Programs) work? Do they have an impact on enterprise development? This paper offers an insight into the methods that can help answer these fundamental questions through solid quantitative evidence. In general, results will depend on the level of coordination that is achieved and on the actions undertaken as a result of improved coordination and strategy-setting of the relevant actors.
Privatization, Institutional Reform, and Performance in the Latin American Electricity Sector
Authors: Jimenez Mori Raul Alberto , Balza Lenin , Mercado Díaz Jorge Enrique
Published: March 2024

This paper explores the relationship between private sector participation, institutional reform, and performance of the electricity sector in 18 Latin American countries over the last four decades. As part of this study, an updated description of private participation and regulatory characteristics is provided, showing that private investment reaches US$155 billion translating into a participation of above 40 percent in generation and distribution, and around 25 percent in transmission. Still, it seems un-clear what are the positive outcomes that could be associated to this process; remaining performance challenges related with low coverage in rural areas, significant levels of electricity losses and high end-user prices. The empirical analysis herein addresses this issue by focusing on dimensions of efficiency, quality, and accessibility to the electricity service. The results suggest that privatization is robustly associated with improvements in quality and efficiency, but not with accessibility to the service. In contrast, regulatory quality is strongly associated with better performance in terms of both quality and accessibility. That is, regardless of the level of private participation, well-designed and stable sectoral institutions are essential for improving the performance of the electricity sector.
Trade Policy Scope and Taxation Study in Belize
Authors: Fernández Monge Ernesto
Published: March 2024

The Technical Note provides an overview of the trends in Belize's tariff structure over recent years, in particular its trade policy, commitments and obligations, the tax revenue implications, and the scope for policy implementation. Specifically, it assesses the country's level of compliance with CARICOM commitments, such as the application of the common external tariff, and outlines and analyzes Belize's trade agreement obligations and their timing and impact with respect to fiscal incentives. It provides policy recommendations and alternatives for compliance with Belize's international trade commitments, for example with the World Trade Organization (WTO), from legislative and policy changes to further trade liberalization and fiscal measures to ensure compliance with its existing international tariff and nontariff commitments. The study considers the solution to eliminate the use of revenue replacement duties, lower all tariffs on excisable goods, and then levy an excise tax on each of the goods up to the current level imposed by import and revenue replacement duties. The study argues in favor of the elimination of the Environmental Tax, as it violates the principle of WTO national treatment in its current form, and takes into account that the export incentive programs will have to be reformed to comply with the rules of the WTO before the end of 2015. Finally, the study proposes a transformation or rationalization of the import license regime to make it more predictable, transparent, and nondiscriminatory.
Incentivizing Clean Technology in the Mining Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Role of Public Mining Institutions
Authors: Priester Michael , Masson Malaika , Walter Martin
Published: March 2024

How can LAC governments promote the use of clean and green technology in the mining sector and what are the supporting instruments, regulations, infrastructure and institutional aspects that are needed to reinforce this role within public supervisory mining agencies? This technical note explores opportunities for incentivizing cleaner technologies in mining in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. It focuses on two aspects: key conceptual notions related to clean technologies/process in mining and the practical efforts required by governments to monitor and regulate their use in LAC. It showcases the case of Bolivia, Guyana, and Peru, and identifies specific avenues for the improved capture of economic value from mining, while minimizing negative environmental and social impacts.