7962 research outputs found
Sort by
Research Insights: How Can Unemployment Insurance Programs Balance Support, Job Quality, and Costs?
Full text linkNon-wage job attributes, such as effort and amenities, affect unemployment spells and unemployment insurance (UI) costs, with unobservable features leading to inefficiencies and moral hazard. UI programs must balance the insurance provided to unemployed workers with incentives for re-employment. When workers search for jobs with different levels of quality, the use of distortionary taxation might help the government incentivize worker search
Debt Ceiling Rules under Intermediate Commitment: Discussion Paper
Full text linkFiscal rules can help countries with long-term debt overcome time-inconsistent default incentives, but enforcement is often imperfect. We integrate an optimal fiscal policy framework under partial commitment with a sovereign default model featuring long-term debt, introducing an endogenously announced debt ceiling as a fiscal rule. First, we analyze a baseline environment where governments announce a ceiling each period and incur a proportional cost for issuing above it. Second, we extend the model to a political economy setting with heterogeneous agents, where competing parties renegotiate the inherited ceiling, thereby microfounding the cost. The ceiling reduces debt dilution but limits fiscal flexibility. Calibrated to Argentina, our counterfactual shows that welfare gains from such a rule are possible but not guaranteed, a finding that persists in the fully microfounded model
People with Disabilities: Thematic Brief
No full textThis thematic brief provides essential information about persons with disabilities and guidance for incorporating an inclusive approach into development projects. It presents key definitions regarding disability status, including the different types of disabilities and the barriers that limit full participation. It also addresses fundamental concepts such as accessibility, reasonable accommodation, and universal design. The brief examines the main socioeconomic gaps affecting persons with disabilities, the relevant international legal framework, and the IDBs approach to this topic. For those who wish to explore the subject further, the brief refers to additional publications and resources. This thematic brief is part of a series of publications that provide information to help integrate a gender and diversity perspective into development projects
Inter-American Development Bank Annual Business Review 2024
No full textThe 2024 Annual Business Review (ABR) provides an overview of the IDB\u27s performance on sovereign-guaranteed outputs and lending program priorities. The ABR identifies trend deviations from IDB portfolio targets to support Bank management\u27s efforts to identify and implement corrective measures. This edition compiles data for all quarters in 2024
Disaster and Climate Change Risk Assessment Methodology
Full text linkThe Disaster Risk Management Plan (DRMP) is the document that describes and articulates all the structural and non-structural measures identified to reduce and manage the risks associated with a project, including potential impacts on the community and the environment, based on prior disaster risk assessments. It also serves as the documentary basis for monitoring the implementation of these measures by project teams, as the DRMP defines the responsible parties, required resources, material and human means, communication and training protocols, and other key aspects that will enable effective, comprehensive, and proactive implementation throughout the project\u27s life cycle. This guide aims to be a technical reference to facilitate the development and implementation of these DRMPs in IDB infrastructure projects, aligning institutional action with the Sendai Framework 2015 - 2030, while aspiring to promote this good practice in infrastructure programs at a regional level beyond the institution itself
Rapid Evaluations for Social Program Design and Improvement
Full text linkIn recent decades, the evaluation of social programs has focused on measuring their impact, prioritizing effects on outcome indicators and, more recently, on intermediate indicators. This document presents rapid evaluations as complementary methods to impact evaluations, useful for improving the design and implementation of social programs. Rapid evaluations can help increase the effectiveness of interventions in a cost-effective way, through more participatory, flexible, and user- and beneficiary-centered approaches. They make it possible to verify whether each stage of implementation is producing the expected effects and provide timely, actionable evidence. These evaluations range from descriptive analyses both qualitative and quantitative to experimental designs
Willingness to Pay for Climate Mitigation: Evidence from Latin America
Full text linkThe ability of countries in Latin America to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by mid-century, the target set by the Paris Agreement, will depend critically on citizen support. To gauge this support, we administered a contingent valuation survey to representative samples in seven of the regions leading GHG emitting countries and in the United States, which is used as a comparator. The survey elicits respondents willingness to pay (WTP) for achieving net zero by 2050 and uses a split sample design to test whether WTP is affected by the distribution of decarbonization costs across households. Our estimates of mean WTP in the Latin American study countries are on par both with our estimate for the United States, and with estimates from a recent CV study for China, Sweden, and the United States. However, among the Latin American study countries, mean WTPs for Argentina and Brazil are relatively low. We also find that the distribution of the costs of decarbonization across households does not have a clear effect on WTP and that the drivers of WTP for our Latin American study countries are similar to those the literature has identified in other regions
Trade Within Multinational Boundaries: Discussion Paper
Full text linkWe leverage newly linked data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to study transactions within U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs). We show that using administrative data on intrafirm trade allows us to correct for measurement error in survey data and to identify the positive relationship between input-output (IO) linkages and the probability of trade between U.S. parents and their foreign affiliates. We also document the prevalence of intrafirm trade: more than half (three-quarters) of affiliates worldwide (in North America) export to or import from their U.S. parent. Our findings provide strong empirical support for traditional theories of firm boundaries that predict trade between vertically linked units of the same firm and underscore the importance of accounting for the trade frictions that shape MNEs\u27 regional supply chains
Expansion of Piped Water and Sewer Networks: The Effects of Regulation
Full text linkThis paper investigates strategies to expand piped water and sewer through private providers. Using billing data from a major provider in Brazil and a structural model of consumer sanitation demand and service expansion, we assess the viability of connection targets and the welfare effects of connection subsidies and price incentives. We find that universal connection targets are largely unfeasible due to low sewer take-up. Combining connection subsidies with higher sewer prices boosts expansion and adoption but requires government funding. Charging consumers upon sewer availability is self-sustaining and promotes adoption and expansion, but it shifts costs to households
How Tax Reform Design and Information Shape Compliance: Preliminary Results
Full text linkHow does the pace and sequencing of tax reforms influence taxpayer behavior? We design a laboratory experiment to evaluate how individuals respond to gradual versus abrupt tax increases and whether advance information about these reforms alters compliance. Participants face a multi-period tax schedule in which the statutory rate rises either all at once or in steps. We vary whether individuals are informed from the start about the entire path of tax changes or learn about each change only when it takes effect. While the overall magnitude of evasion does not differ significantly between abrupt and staggered reforms, we find that information plays a critical role: individuals with advance knowledge report significantly more income than those without. These findings highlight the importance of transparency and communication in the design of tax policy, particularly when compliance relies on voluntary reporting and enforcement is imperfect