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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2012‒02‒01
four papers chosen by |
| By: | René Maldonado; Natasha Bajuk; María Luisa Hayem |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with remittance trends in Latin America and the Caribbean, including statistics and indicators. In 2010, remittance flows to Latin America and the Caribbean marked the end of the downward trend brought on by the 2008-2009 global financial and economic crisis. The overall regional volume of remittances sent home reached levels similar to the previous year with a slight increase of 0.2%. However, higher inflation rates and stronger local currencies in many countries resulted in an -8.7% drop in the value of these remittances, once received. |
| Keywords: | Financial Sector :: Financial Services, Financial Sector :: Remittances, Economics :: Financial Crises & Economic Stabilization, Labor :: Workforce & Employment, Social Development :: Migration & Migrants, cash flows, remittance sending countries |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:61918&r=lam |
| By: | María Elena Gutierrez; Xavier Mommens |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to show how microfinance services may undergo the impacts of climate change, to analyze the opportunities available for MFIs and to propose concrete actions. This paper was commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in coordination with the Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Unit (ECC) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), and it was prepared on the basis of bibliographic reviews, experience in the Latin American region, and interviews that were carried out during missions in Peru and Guatemala. |
| Keywords: | Environment & Natural Resources :: Climate Change, Private Sector :: Microbusinesses & Microfinance, Social Development :: Poverty, Financial Sector :: Financial Services, MFI, microfinance sector, CC, microfinance institutions, microcredits |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:62058&r=lam |
| By: | Lucas Ronconi; Jorge Colina |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the reforms aimed at simplifying the administrative procedures for labor registration and the payment of social security contributions that were carried out in Argentina in 2005 and 2007. Analysis of the legislation, as well as a survey conducted among accountants, reveals that although the reforms did reduce the administrative burden, the effect was only partial. By using microdata gathered from household surveys conducted quarterly between 2003 and 2009, and the discontinuities according to company size that the legislation engenders, differences-in-differences coefficients have been estimated regarding the impact of the simplification reforms on the labor market. The results indicate that the simplification reforms had a positive, although limited, effect on the labor registration rate (of approximately two percentage points for all workers and nine percentage points for newly-hired workers), but that there was no effect on employment levels. Finally, policy recommendations are put forward aimed at deepening the administrative simplification process and thereby improving its effectiveness as a labor registration promotion mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Labor :: Labor Policy, Labor :: Social Security, Labor :: Labor Relations, taxes, the labor market, informality |
| JEL: | J3 O17 J8 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:62158&r=lam |
| By: | Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) |
| Abstract: | SMEs are positioning themselves as a strategic branch of banking operations in the region, while banks are increasingly pushing for more active policies when it comes to the financing of SMEs. This is one of the highlighted conclusions from a 2011 joint survey conducted by the Inter-American Development Bank Group's entities dealing with the private sector: the Multilateral Investment Fund (FOMIN), the beyondBanking program of the department of Corporate and Structured Financing (SCF), and the Inter-American Investment Corporation, along with the Latin American Banking Federation (FELABAN). This report introduces the general results obtained during the fourth survey encompassing the views and opinions of directors, managers and deputies of the SME division of 109 banks scattered across 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also includes an itemized analysis of the answers divided by the banks size and location, as well as their interrelations with other trends in that sector. |
| Keywords: | Private Sector :: SME, Financial Sector :: Financial Services, Small enterprises, financial institutions, beyondBanking, 4th Regional Survey |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:61778&r=lam |