Building on Fifty Years of Japan-IDB Partnership: Unlocking Complementarities for Economic Growth
Aug 2026
Author(s): Shepherd, Benjamin;Scattolo, Gabriel;Zulli, Maria Agostina;Pavajeau Fuentes, Juan Bautista
This report was prepared for the Japan-LAC Business Summit, held in Tokyo, Japan, on August 24-25, 2026. Since Japan became a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the partnership has…
Financial Inclusion in Suriname: Unlocking its Potential
Aug 2026
Author(s): Castilleja Vargas, Liliana;Suliman, Naiema
This study analyzes the determinants and distribution of financial inclusion in Suriname using household-level data from the 2022 Suriname Survey of Living Conditions (SSLC). Financial inclusion is…
Digital Public Services and the Equity Challenge: Evidence from Uruguay
Aug 2026
Author(s): Guerrero Sanchez, Laura;Roseth, Benjamin;Santamaria, Julieth
This document examines Uruguayan citizens' experiences with government services, with particular attention to differences by service channel and population group. Uruguay has become a regional…
Disrupting the Recruitment of Youth into Organized Crime in Southeastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean: A Multi-Stakeholder Approach
Aug 2026
Author(s): Peña, Norma;Vergara Bolbaran, Eduardo Javier;Wolfenzon, Denisse;Alarcon Barrera, Hector Sebastian;Martínez Arroyo, María José
This document summarizes the outcomes of the technical workshop and policy dialogue on prevention of youth recruitment. It begins by examining the nature of youth recruitment into organized crime,…
2026 IDB Group Impact Report
Aug 2026
Author(s): Inter-American Development Bank;IDB Invest;IDB Lab
The Impact Report showcases how the IDB Group is working to achieve impact across Latin America and the Caribbean. Formerly known as the Development Effectiveness Overview (DEO), the report offers…
Beyond Violations: Measuring Compliance in Drinking Water Regulation
Aug 2026 Generative AI enabled
Author(s): Poli, Lucas Luiz;Couleau, Anabelle;Pérez Urdiales, María;Tojal Ramos Dos Santos, Carolina
Ensuring safe drinking water depends not only on infrastructure but on effective regulatory compliance. This paper studies compliance with drinking water quality regulations through a three-layer…
Eppur si Muove: The Evolution of Infrastructure Gaps in LAC 2021-2026
Aug 2026
Author(s): Brichetti, Juan Pablo;Cavallo, Eduardo A.;Pitetti, Diego Andres;Leon Gomez, Carlos Raul
This document updates the estimates of Brichetti et al. (2021) regarding the investment needs that Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) must mobilize to achieve the infrastructure targets associated…
Mapping the Nexus Between Women, Ethnic Groups and Environmental Vulnerability
Aug 2026
Author(s): Aguirre, Josefa;Gallego, Francisco;Jordán, Felipe;Leiva, Benjamín;Ramírez, Denisse;Bernal Lopez, Juanita
Environmental disruptions are intensifying social inequalities, disproportionately affecting women, Indigenous Peoples, and Afro-descendant communities. This systematic review synthesizes causal…
The Effects of Lending Quotas
Aug 2026 Generative AI enabled
Author(s): Vera-Cossio, Diego A.;Garbay Flores, Sergio Andres
We study the eects of sectoral lending quotas in Bolivia, which required lenders to allocate a minimum share of their portfolios to priority sectors. Exploiting the timing of the reform and variation…
Better Jobs Index 2026 Country Data: Latin America Achieves Historic Levels of Employment Quality, Although they Remain Insufficient for Most of the Population
Jul 2026
Author(s): Azuara, Oliver;Lugo Ibarra, Mariana;Jaramillo Vasconez, Oscar Eduardo
The IDB's Better Jobs Index 2026 tracks labor market quantity (participation and employment rates) and quality (formality and living-wage adequacy) across 18 Latin American and Caribbean…
Making Labor Markets Work: Improving Productivity and Workers' Welfare in Latin America and the Caribbean
Jul 2026 Generative AI enabled
Author(s): González-Velosa, Carolina;Kaplan, David S.;Minaya, Auri Melissa;Silva Porto, María Teresa
Making labor markets work, for both productivity and worker welfare, is among the most important and most neglected levers available to Latin America and the Caribbean. The region's labor market…
Does Storing Pay Off? Evidence from a Counterfactual Regression Discontinuity of Colombia’s Paddy Rice Storage Incentive (2013–2025)
Jul 2026 Generative AI enabled
Author(s): Mejía-Tejada, Daniela;Muñoz-Mora, Juan Carlos;Rodríguez Arbeláez, Daniel Alberto;Valbuena, Nicolás;González, Karen;Lopez, Stefany;Salazar, Lina;Rondinone, Gonzalo;Parra-Pena Somoza, Rafael Isidro;De Salvo, Carmine Paolo
Agricultural price stabilization policies are widely used to protect farmers from market volatility, yet their long-term consequences for production incentives and market efficiency remain poorly…
Women at Work: The Impact of Female Employment on Value Added in Mexico
Jul 2026 Generative AI enabled
Author(s): Cabrera Hernandez, Francisco Javier;López, Arnoldo;Ventosa-Santaulària, Daniel
We estimate the effect of a rise in female employment on municipal-level value added in Mexico. We combine economic census data with administrative records on the expansion of the Full-Time Schools…
Caribbean Economics Quarterly: Volume 16, Issue 2: Fiscal Resilience, Debt Reduction, and Domestic Resource Mobilization in the Caribbean
Jul 2026
Author(s): Mercer-Blackman, Valerie;Mooney, Henry;Graham, Monique;Saboin, José Luis;Mazzocca, Angelo;Hernaiz, Daniel;Ortiz de Mendívil, Cloe;Mitchell, Travis Klaus;Hussain, Lisa;Gauto, Victor;Ivey, Wendel Garfield;Castilleja Vargas, Liliana;Suliman, Naiema;Okey, Onoh-Obasi;Satnarine-Singh, Nirvana
How are Caribbean economies navigating a world of higher borrowing costs, volatile energy prices, climate risks, and rising development needs? This issue of the Caribbean Economics Quarterly examines…
Motorcyclists in Latin America: Current Situation, Lessons Learned and Recommended Best Practices for the Protection of its Users. 2nd Edition
Jul 2026 Generative AI enabled
Author(s): Armijos, Jean Pol;Riveros, Jorge Luis;Torregroza Vargas, Nathaly Milena
Motorcyclists represent the primary challenge for road safety in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), where fatalities among this group have increased by 98% between 2010 and 2024, despite an…
Fiscal and Monetary Policy Shocks and Private Sector Activity: Evidence Across Countries
Jul 2026 Generative AI enabled
Author(s): Tovar Jalles, João;Andrian, Leandro Gaston
This paper examines the relationship between fiscal- and monetary-policy shocks and private-sector outcomes, with a focus on private investment, private credit, and firm creation, by using an annual…
Agricultural Development through Evidence: Lessons from a Decade of IDB Impact Evaluations in Latin America and the Caribbean (2014-2025)
Jul 2026 Generative AI enabled
Author(s): Schling, Maja;Salazar, Lina;Perez Massard, Renee Gabriela;Barbosa, Daniel;Chang Huaita, Rodrigo Ysaac;Lee, Dasun
This study reviews a decade of rigorously evaluated IDB-supported agricultural interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean. The evidence base encompasses five major intervention categories:…
The Economics of National Metrology Institutes: Valuing Measurement
Jul 2026
Author(s): Crespi, Gustavo;Filippo, Agustín;Gonzales, Alessandra;Guaipatín, Carlos;Navarro, Lucas;Willington, Ignacio;Wyss, Federico
This paper estimates the economy-wide economic value of expanding metrological services using the Centro Nacional de Metrología (CENAM) of Mexico as a case study. The analysis models and quantifies…
AI and Judicial Productivity: The Impact of MIDAS on the Courts of Fortaleza, Brazil
Jul 2026
Author(s): Pierri, Gastón;Fontenele, Marcelo;Nunes, Jose Luiz
This paper presents preliminary results from a pilot study conducted in the courts of Ceará, Brazil. The study evaluates the impact of introducing a tool that uses natural language processing and…
Maturity Assessment: Adaptive Social Protection System. Belize
Jul 2026
Author(s): Schwarz, Natalie Vanessa;Marer, Ofir;Williams, Dylan
This report assesses the capacity of Belize's social protection system to anticipate, withstand, and respond to shocks using the Inter-American Development Bank's Adaptive Social Protection…