7962 research outputs found
Sort by
Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024: Diminishing Rates of Growth
Get PDFThe remittances received by immigrant families from Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries contribute significantly to reducing their poverty and are one of the main reasons for international migration. After several years of high growth during the pandemic, 2024 will see a slowdown in the growth of remittance flows to the Latin American and Caribbean region. A projection of the evolution of remittances to LAC countries in 2024 is presented, with an analysis of the determinants of flows and the impact that changes in macroeconomic variables have on the purchasing power of remittances for recipient families. Additionally, the report includes some stylized facts about remittance sending behavior based on several surveys of people who send remittances to several countries in the region
Research Insights: What Are the Welfare Effects of Large Firms Crowding Out Microenterprises?
Get PDFThe entry of convenience chains in Mexico has reduced the number of neighborhood shops by 15%. Median and average consumers benefit from chains entry, with an average welfare gain of 0.5%. Lower-income households may be worse off due to chains replacing neighborhood shops
Research Insights: How Does Social and Economic Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean Relate to Health Outcomes?
Get PDFDespite epidemiological transition, socioeconomic health disparities remain more pronounced in early childhood and adolescence than in adulthood. The poorest groups face worse outcomes in maternal care, infant mortality, stunting, and teenage pregnancy. In richer countries, inequalities in child health are smaller, but inequalities in some adult health outcomes are larger
Sustainable Debt Framework
Get PDFThe Sustainable Debt Framework supports the issuance of green, social, and sustainability bonds, aiming to finance projects that generate positive environmental and social impact Latin America and the Caribbean. Developed in collaboration with Crédit Agricole as sole Sustainable Structuring Agent, the framework aligns with international guidelines, including the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Sustainability Bond Guidelines. It emphasizes transparency, governance, and adherence to international standards. The IDB\u27s Sustainable Debt Framework defines key aspects as the use of proceeds, the evaluation and selection process, the management of funds, and monitoring and reporting mechanisms
The Promises of Digital Bank Accounts for Low-income Individuals
Get PDFThe push for adopting digital modes of payment rests on three promises: increased efficiency of transactions, increased financial inclusion, and improvements in the financial well-being of low-income individuals. We experimentally test the extent to which these promises are fulfilled. We exploit the random assignment into an intervention to encourage direct deposits of recurrent government benefits into digital bank accounts in Colombia. Switching from cash to direct deposits reduces disbursement errors and increases access to benefits among eligible beneficiaries. It also increases the ownership of bank accounts, the demand for formal loans, and loan take-up among individuals without a financial history. However, we do not find evidence of improvements in financial well-being across any of our metrics
Latin America and the Caribbean Standardized Public Debt Database: Data as of June 2023
No full textThis database compiles current standardized statistics on sovereign debt issuances for the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region and contains biannual data starting in 2006 through June 2023. Sovereign debt data is classified by legislation, creditor, currency, and maturity, among other areas, for 26 LAC countries. The availability of valid, comparable, and standardized public debt data is essential for the implementation of sound policies. As such, at the core of the LAC Debt Group initiative is the development of a standardized sovereign debt database to help debt managers, policymakers, and other actors of financial markets analyze the evolution and composition of public debt in the region and conduct cross-country comparisons. LAC public debt offices provided the data in response to a questionnaire specifically designed to allow comparability. The questionnaire, whose response is non-compulsory, is intended to compile current standardized statistics for objective and homogeneous definitions of public debt
Financial Development, Growth, and Inequality: The Role of Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean
Get PDFThis publication explores the relationships between institutions, financial development, and income inequality. It assesses the extent of reforms that can promote financial development and argues that institutional improvements capable of increasing financial development can simultaneously mitigate income inequality. This work, focusing on the Latin American and Caribbean region, uses a broad set of measures of financial development, financial institutions, and capital markets. It employs a comprehensive set of inequality indicators and income definitions, as well an econometric model of the financial possibility frontier, to demonstrate that institutions contributing to financial development also help reduce income inequality
Gender Disparities in Valuing Remote and Hybrid Work in Latin America
Get PDFThis study sheds light on the growing trend and gender dynamics of workplace flexibility in Latin America, underscoring the importance of remote work options in the regions labor market. We explore gender differences in willingness to pay (WTP) for remote work arrangements in Latin America, using a discrete choice experiment across five countries: Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina. Results reveals a general trend among Latin American workers to trade off some wage in exchange for more remote work options, both fully and partially remote, in two male-dominated occupations: Manufacturing and information technology. On average, participants agreed to sacrifice around 10% of their wage for hybrid jobs (80% remote, 20% on-site). The WTP for fully remote work was slightly lower, at about 6% of the wage. Women exhibit a higher WTP for flexibility compared to men, with a 62.5% higher willingness across estimates for hybrid arrangements. Moreover, women\u27s inclination towards fully remote options was distinct, as they showed a positive WTP (up to 10% of their salary) for such arrangements, whereas men exhibited no willingness to reduce their wages for fully remote roles
Innovation Ecosystem Management Methodology
No full textThe main challenges innovation faces in the water, sanitation, and solid waste sector in Latin America and the Caribbean can be split into three categories: governance efforts; sector innovation ecosystem (research, development, and innovation), and water, sanitation, and solid waste utilities. In this line, it is key to acquire knowledge of international experiences to enrich the analysis and thematic discussion on the issue. The III (III) is an NGO that was established in 2011 to promote the development and implementation of innovation addressing global challenges such as transportation, climate change, health, agriculture, aquaculture, and desertification. To this end, The III established innovation ecosystems that connect relevant players with the fields they wish to promote, and created innovation opportunities, always acting objectively and impartially. Over the years, as the III gained experience, it formed a methodology that can be adjusted to and implemented in other sectors and fields to enhance their potential and address existing obstructions. Such methodology can be adopted by NGOs, countries, and regions according to the barriers their ecosystem experiences. Hence, a strategy that one ecosystem chooses may be different from the strategy that suits another. Yet, while the innovation clusters and ecosystems may vary, a common, organizing operational outline can be found in all. The methodology includes tools that were designed to match the development of innovation ecosystems facing new challenges and opportunities. This document opens with a presentation of the positive potential of forming and operating innovation ecosystems and the global trends that make them even more important (section I). The five fields of operation that promote innovation ecosystems are thus presented, each followed by practical examples of relevant tools: (1) market education; (2) social capital creation; (3) access to knowledge; (4) open innovation facilitation; and (5) internationalization in section, alongside practical tools to develop each layer, and the motivation for choosing each, which can assist in selecting from the extensive toolbox (Section II). Finally, some practical tips to start with the right foot are described (Section III)
Weak Parties and the Inequality Trap in Latin America
Get PDFLatin America is widely acknowledged as one of the most unequal regions of the world (Sánchez-Ancochea 2021). But it is also one of the most democratic, certainly as compared to other developing regions. These two facts seem difficult to reconcile. Both folk theories of democratic representation to borrow a phrase from (Achen and Bartels 2016) and canonical models in political economy would have us believe that democracies ought to reduce inequality through redistribution (e.g., Acemoglu and Robinson 2006; Meltzer and Richard 1981; Romer 1975). As inequality increases, the proportion of the population that would benefit materially from redistribution also increases, making it more likely that a pro-redistribution political coalition would win elections and deliver social policy. And yet, despite several decades of uninterrupted electoral democracy in most of the region, Latin American governments have consistently and with but few exceptions failed to reduce inequality substantially. This paper begins by discussing why contemporary Latin American party systems are weak, focusing on both structural/institutional factors that pull party systems toward less institutionalization and recent changes to the regions political economy that undermined the more institutionalized systems. Then links the regions low levels of party-system institutionalization with lower levels of redistribution, both theoretically and empirically through cross-national comparisons. Finally, the mass and elite surveys show that legislatures in the region fail to reflect the pro-redistribution preferences of voters, further demonstrating how weak parties undermine the representation necessary for successful redistribution