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on Central and South America |
|
Issue of 2014‒08‒25
fifteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Rigoberto Ariel Yépez-García; Luis San Vicente Portes; Luis Enrique García |
| Keywords: | Energy - Energy Demand Environment - Environment and Energy Efficiency Energy - Energy Production and Transportation Oil Refining and Gas Industry Energy - Energy and Environment Industry |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17547&r=lam |
| By: | Rafael Cortez; Katharina Ferl |
| Keywords: | Law and Development - Health Law Health Economics and Finance Health Monitoring and Evaluation Health Systems Development and Reform Gender - Gender and Health Health, Nutrition and Population |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17060&r=lam |
| By: | Cavalcanti Ferreira, Pedro; Silva, Leonardo Fonseca da |
| Abstract: | This article examines the e¤ects of sectorial shifts and structural transformation on therecent productivity path of Latin America. We use a four-sector (agriculture, industry, modernservices and traditional services) general equilibrium model calibrated to the main economies inthe region. The model very closely replicates labor reallocations across sectors and the growthof aggregate labor productivity from 1950 to 2005. Structural transformation explains a sizeableportion of the region s convergence in the rst decades. In most cases, the poor performanceof the traditional services sector is the main cause of the slowdown in productivity growthobserved in the region after the mid-1970s and is a key factor in explaining the divergenceduring this period. |
| Date: | 2014–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:epgewp:754&r=lam |
| By: | Karim L. Anaya; Michael G. Pollitt |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the influence of weather variables on the efficiency of electricity distribution utilities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. The data covers 82 firms that operate in the previously mentioned countries which represent more than 90 per cent of the distribution market of energy delivered for the period 1998-2008. The stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) is applied with a translog input distance function approach. A combination of cost and cost-quality models is proposed to create better discussions. Weather data are collected from 429 meteorological stations and lightning data (flash rate) are collected from 3,423 coordinates provided by NASA. A geographic information system (GIS) is used for locating the firms’ service areas and for allocating their respective meteorological stations and coordinates. Results suggest that on average under cost models there is a significant increase in efficiency when weather is incorporated in the production function. Firms from Brazil and Peru are those which operate in less favourable weather conditions. Under the cost-quality models, on average the effect of weather is much lower. From this, it appears to be that firms have internalised the effects of weather and have adapted their networks with consideration to the environment in which they operate. A company-level analysis indicates that across models an important number of companies are affected by weather. Regulators are advised to make the case for the proper adjustments of efficiency scores when specific firms face important efficiency changes due to weather. |
| Keywords: | technical efficiency, stocastic frontier analysis, electricity distribution markets, weather, South America |
| JEL: | C23 C52 D24 L94 Q50 |
| Date: | 2014–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1424&r=lam |
| By: | André Luis Squarize Chagas; Luiza Cardoso de Andrade |
| Abstract: | Currently, the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) represents the agricultural frontier of Brazil and concentrates the deforestation processes. A recurrent discussion involves what to do to reduce the deforestation process. A compensation to no-deforestation is a way to this, but involves an opportunity cost for agents in BLA, represented by the expected cash flow that these agents are expected to lose by not using the land for agricultural production in the future. The expectation formation process is uncertain, but the occupation in Brazil’s Midwest, a region near the BLA, in the 1970s can provide a proxy value. We use the stochastic frontiers method to compare both regions and conclude that the actual production mode in the BLA is very similar to that in the Midwest in the past. Thus, we take the production function estimate to project the future income flow for this region. The results show that producers in the BLA region can expect a 9% to 13% increase in average annual income over the next forty years, depending on the discount rate of the cash flow |
| Keywords: | Environmental preservation; climate change; land use; Brazilian Legal Amazon; deforestation |
| JEL: | Q51 Q56 R14 |
| Date: | 2014–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2014wpecon12&r=lam |
| By: | Monica Parra-Torrado |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring and Evaluation Governance - Youth and Governance Social Protections and Labor - Labor Policies Social Protections and Labor - Labor Markets Health, Nutrition and Population - Population Policies |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:18999&r=lam |
| By: | Gabriela Inchauste; João Pedro Azevedo; Sergio Olivieri; Jaime Saavedra; Hernan Winkler |
| Keywords: | Services and Transfers to Poor Poverty Reduction - Rural Poverty Reduction Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Regional Economic Development Poverty Reduction - Achieving Shared Growth Poverty Monitoring and Analysis |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17067&r=lam |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Curriculum and Instruction Access and Equity in Basic Education Education - Education For All Tertiary Education Teaching and Learning |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17615&r=lam |
| By: | Adolfo Meisel R.; María Teresa Ramírez G.; Juliana Jaramillo E. |
| Abstract: | During the 1920s, the Colombian economy experienced the highest rate of growth in its history. The economic reforms of 1923 (the central bank, gold standard, banking legislation, fiscal reorganization), the coffee boom, and the unprecedented influx of foreign capital were the driving forces behind this success. During that decade, the country received 25 million dollars from the United States as compensation for its role in the separation of Panama from Colombia. Those reforms and the growth in coffee exports also allowed for an enormous increase in foreign loans. The value of the loans obtained by 1929 came to 257 million dollars. Those funds were used mainly to build much needed public infrastructure, particularly railroads. Approximately 45% of the foreign loans during that period were invested in railroad construction. Additionally, 16 of the 25 million dollars received as reparation for Panama were invested in railroads. In this paper, we estimate the global rate of return and the internal rates of return on individual railroads. For those calculations, we consider that Colombia ended up paying only around 85% of the loans obtained in the 1920s’s, owing to the effects of the Great Depression and the suspension of foreign debt payments . The rates of return on the railroads constructed and extended in the 1920´s are comparable to those obtained for European countries in the nineteenth century. Classification JEL: N26, N76, O16, O18. |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:838&r=lam |
| By: | Theresa Osborne; Maria Claudia Pachon; Gonzalo Enrique Araya |
| Keywords: | Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Markets and Market Access Transport Economics Policy and Planning Transport - Airports and Air Services Economic Theory and Research Roads and Highways |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17845&r=lam |
| By: | Marcelino Madrigal; Rhonda Lenai Jordan |
| Keywords: | Energy-Energy Demand Energy-Energy Production and Transportation Energy-Hydro Power Energy-Power & Energy Conversion Urban Development-Urban Environment |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17140&r=lam |
| By: | Diego Arias Carballo; Laura dos Reis |
| Keywords: | Law and Development - Insurance Law Insurance and Risk Mitigation Urban Development - Hazard Risk Management Banks and Banking Reform Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Climate Change Economics Finance and Financial Sector Development |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17030&r=lam |
| By: | Gabriela Elizondo Azuela; Luiz Barroso; Gabriel Cunha |
| Keywords: | Environment - Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Climate Change Economics Infrastructure Economics and Finance - Infrastructure Economics Environment - Carbon Policy and Trading Energy - Energy Production and Transportation |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:18675&r=lam |
| By: | Pierre-Richard Agénor; Otaviano Canuto |
| Keywords: | Gender - Gender and Development Rural Development Knowledge and Information Systems Health, Nutrition and Population - Population Policies Gender - Gender and Law Gender - Gender and Health Rural Development |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17027&r=lam |
| By: | International Monetary Fund; World Bank |
| Keywords: | Finance and Financial Sector Development - Access to Finance Banks and Banking Reform Private Sector Development - Emerging Markets Finance and Financial Sector Development - Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress Finance and Financial Sector Development - Debt Markets |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:16739&r=lam |