7962 research outputs found
Sort by
Labor Markets and Climate Change: How to Adapt Labor Market Policies and Improve Employment Opportunities?
Get PDFIn the wake of a robust economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) now face a less promising growth outlook for 2024, with slowing employment growth and rising concerns over inflation. In this context, climate change is increasingly affecting labor markets. As global temperatures continue to rise due to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, the negative effects on employment, labor conditions, and productivity pose significant threats to the region\u27s workforce. However, amidst these challenges lies an opportunity for strategic intervention through effective labor market policies. By embracing adaptation and mitigation strategies, such policies can not only mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change on employment but also catalyze job creation, skills development, and economic resilience. Decarbonization policies, while potentially disrupting traditional employment sectors, present avenues for transitioning to a green economy with sustainable job opportunities. Central to this endeavor is ensuring a just transition that protects vulnerable populations and fosters social cohesion. This paper proposes an analytical framework to understand the mechanisms through which climate change affects labor markets and identifies policy options to address these challenges. By integrating environmental goals into labor market policies, countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region can simultaneously pursue adaptation, mitigation, and socioeconomic development agendas contributing to a more sustainable and equitable future
Connexa: No. 21: April, 2024: overview on integration and trade
No full textThis edition of Connexa presents the recent dynamic of trade in goods and services of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), along with the evolution of investment flows towards the region. Additionally, some indicators are shared that provide a glimpse into the trade prospects for 2024, and dive into the policies that could affect the export dynamics of LAC, both at an aggregate level and particularly in sectors such as agriculture or those with high participation of women
FS 2.1: 2023 Expansion of the OLAS Household Survey Data Set
Get PDFThe Expansion of the OLAS Household Survey Data Set was a project implemented in collaboration between the OLAS and the Social Division (SCL) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) from December 2022-July 2023. The projects objectives were multi-fold, with a focus on improving the information available on water and sanitation access while simultaneously streamlining the data generation process. This factsheet describes the project and data in the data set
Measuring Regional Inequality in the Andean Countries: A Multiple-Stage Nested Theil Decomposition Using Night Light Emissions
Get PDFThis paper examines inequality in the Andean countries using satellite-recorded nighttime lights and gridded population datasets from 2012 to 2021. We follow a multiple-stage nested Theil index decomposition method accounting for each country\u27s lowest administrative divisions to enhance our understanding of how spatial dimensions contribute as primary sources of inequality and how these contributions vary across each country. The main findings reveal a decrease in overall inequality for the Andean region throughout the period (primarily driven by a decline in between-country inequality) and an increase in the relative importance of within-country inequality. In addition, there are spatial heterogeneities by country. Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru experienced a decline in wealth inequality over the past decade due to decreased disparities between provinces and less inequality within departments and provinces, respectively. In contrast, the inequality components in Ecuador and Venezuela exhibit a more balanced contribution to overall inequality. And, while Ecuador does not show a significant change in overall inequality during the period, the inequality increase in Venezuela is primarily driven by changes in the disparity between all geographic subgroups
Seeing Is Believing: Screening Anemia to Make Risks Salient Experimental Evidence from El Salvador
Get PDFWe investigate the impact of non-invasive anemia screening on treatment adherence in El Salvador. Anemia is a common childhood condition in low-income countries, due mainly to iron-deficiency, which if left untreated during critical development periods can have lasting health consequences. While effective treatments exist, adherence to treatment is often challenging, since the symptoms of mild to moderate anemia such as lack of energy or paleness can be easily overlooked. We test whether making anemia risks salient through screening during child-well visits can improve treatment adherence, using a cluster-randomized trial in high-poverty areas in El Salvador. Preliminary results indicate that screening enhances treatment adherence and there is suggestive evidence of a reduction of anemia among children 6 to 23 months old. Our results highlight the potential of screening in making anemia risks salient and motivating caregivers to follow treatment plans
Consumers and Firms in International Trade
Get PDFModern theoretical and empirical analyses in international trade typically focus on firms as the sole trading actors. This is consistent with the fact that firms have traditionally accounted for the vast majority of trade and, hence, examining their behavior allows for fully characterizing trade margins and assessing their determinants. Emerging and rapidly growing trade modalities such as cross-border e-commerce have started to change this by making it easier for individuals to directly engage in international sales and purchases. However, to what extent and how consumers directly participate in and shape international trade has remained largely unknown due to data limitations. In this paper, we use a unique dataset consisting of the entire universe of import shipments that entered Peru in 2019 to provide novel evidence on the role of both consumers and firms as importers, characterize the distribution and patterns of their foreign purchases, and assess how gravity forces shape their trade decisions, thus filling in this gap in the literature
Tech Report Artificial Intelligence
Get PDFThis report provides a comprehensive overview of AI, from its fundamentals to its practical applications, covering topics such as its definition, evolution, and implementation. It also delves into various applications, such as machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and generative AI, providing specific examples and use cases across sectors like healthcare, logistics, environment, and security. The expanding influence of AI is reshaping everyday life and various industries. However, its responsible implementation requires a comprehensive understanding of its ethical and technical principles, as well as ongoing consideration of its impact on society and individual privacy. The report concludes with recommendations for responsible development and discussions on ethical concerns like privacy and transparency
Skills for Life Series: Digital Skills
No full textDigital skills encompass the ability to safely and effectively access, manage, evaluate, and create information using digital technologies. These skills are critical for modern life, enabling individuals to engage with technology in a critical, collaborative, and creative manner. Essential for economic growth, employability, and social inclusion, digital skills can reduce inequalities, providing marginalized groups with access to education and resources. However, data indicates that people in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) often lack these skills, with disparities evident by gender and age. Integrating these skills into curricula and ensuring teachers are proficient with digital technologies are crucial steps towards students digital skills development. Various initiatives in LAC, such as Enuma School in Nicaragua, Digital Platform for Indigenous Languages in Peru, Laboratoria, and Ceibal in Uruguay, are efforts to promote digital skills across diverse contexts. Measuring digital skills involves self-reported instruments and performance-based tests, such as PIAAC, ICILS, and PISA. Online platforms like the EU\u27s competence assessment and Guia Edutec offer additional resources for skill evaluation and development. Digital skills are pivotal not only for personal and professional growth but also for fostering a more inclusive and equitable society
Skills for Life Series: Empathy & Compassion
No full textEmpathy and compassion are vital skills for emotional and social development, motivating prosocial behaviors and effective conflict resolution. Empathy involves understanding others\u27 emotions, while compassion drives actions to alleviate their suffering. These skills can be developed through educational programs and interventions like mindfulness and emotional intelligence training. In this brief, we introduce more about its relevance, successful initiatives to foster them, and tools to measure them
Corruption and Political Accountability under Economic Shocks: Preliminary Findings
Get PDFWhile the existing literature extensively explores the adverse effects of corruption on economic performance, there is limited research on how economic shocks influence corruption and political accountability. To address this gap, we develop a theoretical political model that allows politicians to be corrupt and citizens to punish corruption. In the model, positive economic shocks lead to increased corruption and weakened accountability. We validate these predictions empirically in a series of laboratory experiments conducted with university students in Colombia. Our findings indicate that corruption rates rise significantly during economic booms. Citizens willingness to punish corrupt politicians remains relatively unchanged across the business cycle. Citizens decide when to punish based on the observed allocation of public goods. Regardless of the state of the economy, low allocations lead to significantly higher punishment than higher allocations, which may lead to the punishment of honest politicians during economic downturns. Additionally, we evaluate the role of expectations in shaping decisions: during positive economic shocks, politicians anticipate reduced punishment, while citizens mistakenly expect a decrease in corruption. These results underscore the need for robust transparency and accountability mechanisms to safeguard governance standards