| By: | Marcello M. Estevão Irineu E. Carvalho Filho |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
Even though institutions are created to protect workers, they may interfere with labor market functioning, raise unemployment, and end up being circumvented by informal contracts. This paper uses Brazilian microeconomic data to show that the institutional changes introduced by the 1988 Constitution lowered the sensitivity of real wages to changes in labor market slack and could have contributed to the ensuing higher rates of unemployment in the country. Moreover, the paper shows that states that faced higher increases in informality (i.e., illegal work contracts) following the introduction of the new Constitution tended to have smaller drops in wage responsiveness to macroeconomic conditions, thus suggesting that informality serves as a escape valve to an over-regulated environment. | |
| Keywords: | Brazil , Economic models , Labor markets , Unemployment , Wages |
| By: | Azzoni, Carlos Roberto Guilhoto, Joaquim José mantins Haddad, Eduardo Menezes, Tatiane Silveira, Fernando Hasegawa, Marcos |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
The objective of the paper is to provide an estimative of the impacts that changes in international prices of agricultural commodities will have on income distribution and poverty in Brazil. To do so, a Social Accounting Matrix is constructed and applied, using a Leontief- Miyazawa type model framework. The SAM is defined for 40 products, being 17 raw agricultural products, 15 agricultural processed products, 3 industrial agricultural inputs, 2 other industrial products, trade, transport, and services. Households are allocated to 10 groups, being 6 agricultural (4 types of family farmers, commercial farmers, and agricultural labor), and 4 urban (income quartiles). Demand elasticities (price and income) for the products defined in the SAM are considered, as well as limitations on the supply of agricultural inputs. The knowledge of the possible impacts of changes in international commodity prices on income distribution and poverty is very important for policy design within developing countries. Given the estimated impacts on different groups of producers, different sorts of cushioning policies can be designed. | |
| Keywords: | Commodity Price; Brazil |
| JEL: | D57 |
| By: | Sebastián Galiani (Washington University in Saint Louis) Leonardo Gasparini (CEDLAS - UNLP) |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
El objetivo de este trabajo es reseñar brevemente los métodos tradicionales de evaluación del impacto distributivo de las políticas públicas y discutir algunos de los avances más relevantes en los últimos veinte años. El trabajo se concentra en la evaluación de programas sociales, dejando de lado otras intervenciones públicas y su financiamiento. El trabajo resume los progresos a nivel internacional con algunas referencias a la experiencia argentina. | |
| By: | Crespi, Gustavo (Competitiveness and Innovation Division, Institutions for Development Department, Inter-American Development Bank) Zuniga, Pluvia (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG, University of Maastricht) |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
This study examines the impact of innovation strategies on employment growth in four Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay) using micro-data for manufacturing firms from innovation surveys. Building on the model proposed by Harrison et al. (2008), we relate employment to three innovation strategies: make only (R&D), buy only (external R&D, licensing of patents and know-how, technical assistance, and other external innovation activities) and make and buy (mixed strategy). Firms that conduct in-house innovation activities ("make only") have the greatest impact on employment; the "make and buy" strategy comes in second. Similar results are found for small firms. These results highlight the importance of fostering in-house technological efforts not only for innovation per se, but also to promote growth in firm employment. The impact of "make only" strategies is greater in high-tech industries, whereas "make only" and "make and buy" have a similar impact on employment in low-tech industries. Finally, the study provides evidence of the mechanisms through which innovation strategies affect employment. The findings show that innovation strategies enhance technological innovation, but their impact differs between product and process innovation. Product innovation is mainly motivated by in-house technology investments, followed by mixed strategies, whereas process innovation is basically driven by "buy" strategies. | |
| Keywords: | innovation, employment, external R&D, Latin America, innovation surveys |
| JEL: | O12 |
| By: | Loayza, Norman (World Bank) Rigolini, Jamele (World Bank) Llorente, Gonzalo (World Bank) |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
| We revisit the link between poverty, the middle class and institutional outcomes using a newly developed cross-country panel dataset containing detailed information on the distribution of income and expenditures. When the size of the middle class increases (measured as the proportion of people with income above 10 US Dollars a day in PPP terms), social policy on health and education becomes more active and the quality of governance regarding democratic participation and official corruption improves. This does not occur at the expense of economic freedom, as an expansion of the middle class also implies more market-oriented economic policy on trade and finance. The impact of a larger middle class appears to be more robust than those of lower poverty, lower inequality, or higher GDP per capita. | |
| Keywords: | poverty, middle class, income, institutions, development |
| JEL: | D3 |
| By: | Acevedo, Carlos Cabrera, Maynor |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
This paper reviews the pattern of poverty rates and income inequality in El Salvador since the 1990s. It discusses some of the likely factors that explain the reduction in income inequality that has taken place in the country in the last decade, which paradoxically has coincided with the long period of economic stagnation that has followed dollarization since 2001. After examination of the available evidence, we conclude that this trend has been mainly due to the equalizing effect of migration and remittances (that is, a .private safety net. built around solidarity within families) rather than the distributive effect of public social expenditure or other public policies. | |
| Keywords: | El Salvador; remittances; migration; inequality; poverty; labour market |
| By: | Ponce, Juan Vos, Rob |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
This study examines the rise and fall in income inequality in Ecuador over the past two decades. Falling income equality during the 2000s partly coincides with the rise to power of a .new leftist. government, but the trend was already set early in the decade. The recent trend is mainly associated with a recovery from the country.s deep crisis of the late 1990s. The new leftist regime.s social transfer policies helped reduce inequality further, but the continuation of Ecuador.s primary export-based growth model and the lack of structural economic change do not augur for a more structural decline in inequality. | |
| Keywords: | education, welfare, poverty, Ecuador |
| By: | Damill, Mario Frenkel, Roberto |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
This paper examines the macroeconomic policies and outcomes experienced by the Latin American economies during the period 1990-2010. Macroeconomic policies refer to exchange rates, monetary and aggregate fiscal policies, while macroeconomic outcomes, on the other hand, refer to the patterns of growth, inflation, employment, investment, balance of payments, and the evolution of external and public debts and international reserves. The analysis includes a discussion of the effects of macroeconomic outcomes on poverty rates. With regard to policy, the study examines the changes that took place in 1997-98, and then reviews the resulting new macroeconomic configuration that was established in 2002-03. This new configuration favoured the acceleration of output growth and employment creation, and contributed to reducing poverty rates. | |
| Keywords: | Latin American economies, macroeconomic policies, economic growth, employment, poverty rates, inequality |
| By: | Keifman, Saul N. Maurizio, Roxana |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
Labour market incomes have been a major contributor to the important fall in inequality in Latin America during the 2000s. Indeed, it was the main contributor in countries where inequality fell more dramatically. A proper understanding of the workings of the labour market is necessary to comprehend why inequality fell, what lies ahead of us and what we can do to achieve more equitable societies in Latin America. Social progress was real in the last decade but we should not overlook the structural deficits that still remain in Latin American labour markets. Inequality fell more dramatically in countries where formality rose faster and real minimum wages increased more significantly. Labour market institutions have a played positive role in reducing inequity in the last decade. | |
| Keywords: | labour institutions, inequality, Latin America, minimum wage |
| By: | Porzecanski, Arturo C. |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
Three sovereign defaults in the past decade have each inflicted losses of at least 70% on bondholders: Argentina, Ecuador, and now Greece. In each case, creditor rights and the rule of law were trampled, setting troubling precedents that are worrying investors involved in vulnerable European countries. In Argentina (in default since 2002), numerous arbitrary measures were taken that damaged the interests of investors; the debt relief that was demanded bore little relation to the country's capacity to pay; and court judgments and arbitral awards against the sovereign have been routinely ignored. Ecuador (2008-2009) stands as the clearest example of sovereign unwillingness to pay. Investors were blindsided, bullied, and then sacrificed as part of a personal and ideological vendetta on President Correa's part. Investor confidence in Greece was destroyed by persistently negative attitudes coming out of Berlin. The huge losses imposed on creditors were based on questionable estimates and judgments, and various troubling, expedient means were used to achieve the dubious ends. Chances are that the road to perdition for investors will soon be extended to some other capital in Europe. | |
| Keywords: | Argentina; Ecuador; Greece; Debt; Default; Restructuring; Crisis |
| JEL: | F34 |
| By: | Adolfo Meisel Roca Karina Acosta O. |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
Using data from the 2010 Colombia Demographic and Health Survey and National Survey of the Nutritional Situation in Colombia (ENDS-ENSIN), we analyzed the evolution of the Colombian height trends among the birth cohort 1946-1992 by ethnic group. We find that there are statistically significant differences between the ethnic groups we considered. Those who self-recognized as afrocolombian have greater average height than the indigenous group and are also taller than those who don’t identify themselves as either of these two groups, which we refer to as others. In our analysis we also find that the height gap between afros and the others, tends to reduce in the time period we study. Moreover, the results suggest that the Colombian indigenous group has a higher potential growth of ‘biological well being’ when they improve their socioeconomic status. RESUMEN: En este trabajo estudiamos la evolución de la estatura de los colombianos nacidos entre 1946 y 1992. El análisis se realiza para los principales grupos étnicos del país. Para ello utilizamos una muestra con información antropométrica de un total de 92.953 personas de la Encuesta Nacional de la Situación Nutricional en Colombia (ENSIN, 2010), publicada en el 2011. Entre las principales evidencias, se encuentra que existe una diferencia significativa entre los grupos de clasificación étnica. Quienes se auto reconocieron como afro descendientes tienen estaturas promedios mayores al grupo de indígenas y mayores a quienes no se identifican con ninguno de estos dos grupos. Además, la brecha entre los afrocolombianos y los no étnicos es cada vez menor en el tiempo. También encontramos que el grupo de indígenas presenta un mayor potencial de crecimiento en el bienestar biológico y así ocurre cuando sus condiciones de vida mejoran. | |
| By: | Galiani, Sebastian |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
We study the effects of titles on parcel valuation and urban land market development (real estate transfers, rentals, and mortgages), and the dynamics of deregularization by exploiting a natural experiment in the allocation of land titles to very poor families in a suburban area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This natural experiment has been previously exploited to study effects of land titling on child health (Galiani and Schargrodsky 2004), on the formation of beliefs (Di Tella et al. 2007), and on investment, credit access, household structure, and educational achievement (Galiani and Schargrodsky 2010). | |
| Keywords: | land titling, deregularization, titling premium |
| By: | Geraint Johnes R Freguglia G Spricigo A Aggarwal |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
The effect of education on labour market outcomes is analysed using both survey and administrative data from The Brazilian PNAD and RAIS-MIGRA series, respectively. Occupational destination is examined using both multinomial logit analyses and structural dynamic discrete choice modelling. The latter approach is particularly useful as a means of evaluating policy impacts over time. We find that policy to expand educational provision leads initially to an increased take-up of education, and in the longer term leads to an increased propensity for workers to enter non-manual employment. | |
| By: | Barrientos, Armando |
URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
| The paper tracks recent changes in the components of social protection in Latin America, the reforms to social insurance in the 1990s and the growth of social assistance in the 2000s, and assesses their effects on poverty and inequality and implications for welfare institutions in the region. The analysis focuses on public subsidies to social protection and their rebalancing. The paper concludes that the expansion of social assistance in the region will result in social protection institutions which are more comprehensive and distributionally progressive. | |
| Keywords: | Latin America, social insurance, social assistance, social protection, poverty, inequality |
| By: | Amarante, Veronica Manacorda, Marco Miguel, Edward Vigorito, Andrea |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
| There is limited empirical evidence on whether unrestricted cash social assistance to poor pregnant women improves children’s birth outcomes. Using program administrative micro-data matched to longitudinal vital statistics on the universe of births in Uruguay, we estimate that participation in a generous cash transfer program led to a sizeable 15% reduction in the incidence of low birthweight. Improvements in mother nutrition and a fall in labor supply, out-of-wedlock births and mother’s smoking all appear to contribute to the effect. We conclude that, by improving child health, unrestricted unconditional cash transfers may help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. | |
| Keywords: | birth outcomes; welfare transfers |
| JEL: | I38 |
| By: | Cruces, Guillermo Gasparini, Leonardo |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc: |
| This paper provides original empirical evidence on the evolution of education inequality for the Latin American countries over the decades of 1990 and 2000. The analysis covers a wide range of issues on the differences in educational outcomes and opportunities across the population, including inequality in years of education, gaps in school enrolment, wage skill differentials and public social expenditure. The evidence indicates a significant difference between the 1990s and the 2000s in terms of both the assessment of the equity of the education expansion and its impact on the income distribution. In particular, changes in the 2000s seem to have had an equalizing impact on earnings, given the more pro-poor pattern of the education upgrading and a more stable or even increasing relative demand for low-skill labour. | |
| Keywords: | education, inequality, enrolment, wage premium, Latin America |
