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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2014‒02‒21
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Andrea Bonilla (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - École Normale Supérieure (ENS) - Lyon - PRES Université de Lyon - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne - Université Claude Bernard - Lyon I) |
| Abstract: | This article addresses the reactions of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) economies to external shocks. Unlike the existing economic integration projects, the UNASUR was conceived as a political alliance. Because the recent euro debt crisis con rmed the importance of political agreement for economic integration, the South American plan is likely to be promising. However, economic and political aspects must go hand in hand for an integration project to succeed. Thus, assessing the UNASUR from an economic perspective is essential. Using a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) approach, this paper measures the impact of three external shocks (monetary, commercial and nancial) in the real, monetary and fi scal economic sector of seven UNASUR economies, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, and detects for co-movement paths. The results reveal a non-negligible current synchronization level across the studied economies, con rm their high external vulnerability and identify mutual weaknesses to overcome. |
| Keywords: | Economic integration; South America; Structural VAR; UNASUR |
| Date: | 2014–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00945044&r=lam |
| By: | Alpaslan, Baris; Demirel, Baki |
| Abstract: | Most emerging market economies in the 1990s witnessed a wide variety of crises. Following those crises, emerging market economies have given up monetary policies using exchange rates as a nominal anchor and inflation targeting has become a new policy of such countries. The overshooting effect of exchange rates in these markets and therefore arising problems are an important cause of this political change. The aim of this paper is to evaluate exchange rate pass-through effects on prices in Asian Pacific, Latin American and Turkish economies which implemented inflation targeting, but have different dollarization and inflation episodes. Panel VAR approach was used in the analysis. Our findings show that exchange rate pass-through effect in Asian Pacific countries is lower than that of Latin America and Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Pass-through Effect, Inflation Targeting, Emerging Market Economies. |
| JEL: | E42 E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2014–02–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53726&r=lam |
| By: | Renato Colistete; Maria Lucia Lamounier |
| Abstract: | This article examines the distribution of land ownership in the northeastern part of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, the leading coffee export region in the world during the early twentieth century. Based on a detailed agricultural census, we find a widespread presence of small and medium-size farms, with varied degrees of land concentration across subregions and municipalities. Still, large farms and latifundia controlled most of the productive resources in northeast São Paulo, resulting in high levels of inequality when compared to those of other export regions in South and North America. |
| Keywords: | Land Inequality; Coffee; São Paulo; Brazil |
| JEL: | N5 N50 Q15 |
| Date: | 2014–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2014wpecon1&r=lam |
| By: | Schady,, Norbert; Behrman, Jere; Araujo, Maria Caridad; Azuero,, Rodrigo; Bernal, Raquel; Bravo, David; Lopez-Boo, Florencia; Macours, Karen; Marshall, Daniela; Paxson, Christina; Vakis, Renos |
| Abstract: | Research from the United States shows that gaps in early cognitive and noncognitive abilities appear early in the life cycle. Little is known about this important question for developing countries. This paper provides new evidence of sharp differences in cognitive development by socioeconomic status in early childhood for five Latin American countries. To help with comparability, the paper uses the same measure of receptive language ability for all five countries. It finds important differences in development in early childhood across countries, and steep socioeconomic gradients within every country. For the three countries where panel data to follow children over time exists, there are few substantive changes in scores once children enter school. These results are robust to different ways of defining socioeconomic status, to different ways of standardizing outcomes, and to selective non-response on the measure of cognitive development. |
| Keywords: | Youth and Governance,Educational Sciences,Street Children,Primary Education,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2014–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6779&r=lam |
| By: | Hopfensitz, Astrid; Miquel-Florensa, Pepita |
| Abstract: | Due to its long-lasting internal armed conflict, Colombia has witnessed a rupture in social networks. The network composition was altered for municipalities with high in- or out-flows of displaced individuals, in addition to the individual impact on the displaced. We use a controlled laboratory experiment and questionnaires to measure the impact of displacement on public good contributions at the Colombian ‘Eje Cafetero’. Abstract public good contributions are related to actual community involvement and observed to be significantly higher in regions with a history of high pressure or intensity of displacement. Contributions are particularly high by vulnerable individuals in high out-flow areas (e.g. women). A local control institution can further increase contributions, independent of the individuals’ personal preference for such control. |
| Keywords: | Colombia, conflict, displacement, public good games |
| Date: | 2014–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:27881&r=lam |
| By: | Armas, Adrián (Banco Central de Reserva del Perú); Castillo, Paul (Banco Central de Reserva del Perú); Vega, Marco (Banco Central de Reserva del Perú) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of the Reserve Requirements measures undertaken by the Central Bank of Peru. We provide a rationale for the use of these instruments as well as empirical evidence on their effectiveness. In general, the results show that a reserve requirement tightening has the desired effects on interest rates and credit levels both at banks and smaller financial institutions (cajas municipales). |
| Keywords: | Non-conventional monetary policy, Inflation Targeting, Reserve requirements. |
| JEL: | E51 E52 E58 G21 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rbp:wpaper:2014-001&r=lam |