schooling, the model will reconcile them with shifts in preferences. Separation of such effects from traditional sources of change, such as fertility decisions, is essential for policy intervention.

Second, the identification of barriers is only a first step towards successful policy intervention. Removing them in one sphere can have unintended consequences, raising barriers elsewhere. For instance, boys are more prone to victimization due to gang activity in El Salvador. As expected, the educational outcomes of boys improved due to a decline in homicide rates. At the same time, it also led to a decline in attendance rates of girls. This suggests that intra-household allocation of resources that favors boys kicked in raising obstacles for girls, as a result of external barriers for boys going down (Dahbura, 2018). The unintended consequences of policies aimed at reducing barriers can also spill over to unrelated spheres. For example, Chant (2000) reports that the improvements in the labor market outcomes of women in Guanacaste (Costa Rica) are not without their side effects. The ensuing loss of power held by men increased the stress among the family members bound by marital associations. Hence, corrective policies need to be cognizant of a range of inter-related factors and should be carefully implemented.

# **References**

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**Arends, Mary.** “Female labor force participation and earnings in Guatemala.” _Case Studies on Women’s Employment and Pay in Latin America_ . Washington, DC, United States: World Bank (1992a).

**Arends, Mary.** “Female labor force participation and wages: A case study of Panama.” _Case Studies on Women’s Employment and Pay in Latin America_ . Washington, DC, United States: World Bank (1992b).

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**Berg, Andrew, and Anne O. Krueger.** “Trade, growth, and poverty: a selective survey.” In _Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics_ (2003): 47-91, World Bank.

**Bertrand, Marianne.** “New perspectives on gender.” In _Handbook of Labor Economics_ , vol. 4, pp. 15431590. Elsevier, 2011.

**Blau, Francine D., Marianne A. Ferber, and Anne E. Winkler.** “The economics of women, men and work.” _Prentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ_ (2013).

**Caceres, Luis Rene.** “Economic openness and stagnation in Central America.” _Journal of Developing Areas_ 51.1 (2017): 373-389.

**CEDLAS, and the World Bank.** “Socio-economic database for Latin America and the Caribbean _.” Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales,_ Facultad de Ciencias Economicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina; _the World Bank,_ Washington DC (2019).

**Chant, Sylvia.** “Men in crisis? Reflections on masculinities, work and family in north-west Costa Rica.” _European Journal of Development Research_ 12, no. 2 (2000): 199-218.

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