Jan 2019
The labor force participation of women is lower than the labor force participation of men. This empirical regularity is particularly acute in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In terms of labor…
Dec 2018
We study the effect of different types of barriers to innovation (financial, demand, knowledge, market, cooperation, and regulatory barriers) on firm level innovation inputs and outputs. Using a…
Dec 2018
Maintaining high standards of care from doctors, nurses and other health professionals is of critical importance for an effective and efficient health system. Yet deficient levels of health worker…
Dec 2018
A booming literature has argued that mission-based motives are a central feature of mission-oriented labor markets. This paper shifts the focus to task-based motivation and finds that it yields…
Dec 2018
This paper quantifies the impacts of transport infrastructure investments on economic activity in Haiti, proxied by satellite luminosity data. Our identification strategy exploits the differential…
Dec 2018
This paper examines gaps in child development by socioeconomic status (SES) using a large nationally representative sample of children 0–59 months old in Bolivia and a rich set of child health and…
Nov 2018
Fiscal policy is procyclical in developing countries. An ample literature has explained this fact and explored its consequences for aggregate cyclical fluctuations. Multilateral Development Banks (…
Nov 2018
El presente estudio documenta que, de acuerdo con la información disponible, tanto el nivel educativo como la calidad de la educación en México han mejorado durante los últimos 20 años. En línea con…
Nov 2018
This paper explores the impact of a livestock transfer program, that targeted small-holder female farmers with high levels of food insecurity in Nicaragua. For this purpose, the three dimensions of…
Nov 2018
What happens when the tax authority increases enforcement in one tax with compliance in other taxes? The very little evidence available is not conclusive. This paper presents a very simple analytical…
Nov 2018
This paper provides experimental evidence for the impact of home internet access on a broad range of child outcomes in Peru. Children who were randomly chosen to receive laptops with high-speed…
Oct 2018
As a result of its colonial history the labour market of Trinidad and Tobago is characterized by two majority racial groups of approximately equal number. During colonial times, these racial groups…
Oct 2018
We explore the effects of a randomly assigned conditional cash transfer in Honduras (Bono 10000) on early childhood development. We find significant impacts on cognitive development in children 0-60…
Oct 2018
This paper analyzes the association between quality of parenting programs and child development outcomes. It focuses on parenting programs delivered through home visits (i.e., home visiting programs…
Oct 2018
Despite the widespread debate about crime in Brazil and the alarming increase in homicides in recent years, few studies have analyzed or exposed evidence of the impact of public security spending on…
Oct 2018
Over the last three decades, Mexico’s macroeconomic policy has been driven by a sound orthodox strategy: an open economy via many trade agreements signed since the mid-1980s, a nominal exchange rate…
Oct 2018
We analyze evidence from 10 at-scale field experiments in four countries on the effect of inquiry- and problem-based pedagogy (IPP) on students’ math and science test scores. IPP creates active…
Sep 2018
Los subsidios a la energía son criticados debido a su ineficiencia económica, por promover un uso derrochador de la energía, y como consecuencia incrementar las emisiones de carbono. Por otro lado,…
Sep 2018
Energy subsidies have been criticized due to their economic inefficiency and promotion of wasteful usage of energy and associated carbon emissions. Conversely, environmental taxes are advocated as…
Sep 2018
Land titling and property rights have been the central tenant of agricultural and rural development policy for many years since land is one of the key assets for production of agricultural goods and…