|
on Central and South America |
|
Issue of 2014‒09‒25
fifteen papers chosen by |
| By: | David Tuesta |
| Abstract: | Low contribution levels to pension schemes in Latin America are an enormous obstacle limiting the implementation of a broad-based social security system. Contribution rates measured as a ratio of contributors to the total labour force stand at an average of 40%, or 60% in the best of cases. Although previous studies explain this situation by factors related to growth, economic institutions and market considerations, only a few studies have quantified the specific determinants behind this problem. This study therefore aims to approach the subject by exploring the national household surveys for Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Once the specific question relating to pension contributions has been identified in the surveys, probit models are used to estimate the probability that this event may occur, conditioned by the variables that theory considers to be explanatory. The study finds the enormous relevance of labour markets as a common conditional factor affecting the likelihood to contribute to any pension system in Latin America. Working in the informal economy, being a self-employed worker or working in a micro-enterprise are particularly significant and show the highest coefficients in this geographical region. The high impact of these variables may give clues for economic policy, in its search for eliminating the hurdles in labour market distortions that limit the impact of social security programmes. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Latin America, Mexico, Pension, Peru, AFORE, AFP, Pension contribution, Pension coverage, Retirement |
| JEL: | G23 H55 H75 J01 J26 J38 J32 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbv:wpaper:1419&r=lam |
| By: | NU. CEPAL. Subsede de México |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col031:4923&r=lam |
| By: | Enriqueta Camps; Stanley Engerman |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1436&r=lam |
| By: | Vries, Gaaitzen de; Timmer, Marcel; Vries, Klaas de (Groningen University) |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces the updated and extended Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC) 10-Sector database. The database includes annual time series of value added and persons employed for ten broad sectors of the economy from 1950 onwards. It now includes eleven countries in Asia (China has been added compared to the previous release), nine in Latin America and eleven in Sub-Saharan Africa. We use the GGDC 10-Sector database to document patterns of structural change in developing countries. We find that the expansion of manufacturing activities during the early post World War II period was related to a growth-enhancing reallocation of resources in most countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This process of structural change stalled in many African and Latin American countries during the mid-1970s and 1980s. When growth rebounded in the 1990s, workers mainly relocated to market services industries, such as retail trade and distribution. Though such services have higher productivity than much of agriculture, they are not technologically dynamic and have been falling behind the world frontier. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:rugggd:gd-149&r=lam |
| By: | Leonardo Fabio Morales; Lina Cardona-Sosa |
| Abstract: | Using data from Medellín, second largest city in Colombia, we asses in this paper how a set of neighborhood characteristics determines wages and labor supply for workers in the city. We use GIS data to construct measures of the quality of environments where workers live. This paper focuses in the impact in labor supply and wages of the following set of characteristics: availability of public transportation, crime levels and density of economic activity. The empirical methodology consist of the estimation of linear equations for wages and worked hours, and we control for the selection of individuals into the neighborhoods they are observed. In order to do this we estimate in a first stage a probabilistic model of neighborhood selection from which selection correction terms are obtained; these correction terms and included in the linear equations for wage and worked hours in a second stage. In addition, we control for sample selection as well. We find that the endogeneity of the location decision tends to overestimate the magnitude of the effect of neighborhood characteristics on labor market outcomes. Nevertheless, the effect of some characteristics is still significant and important after we control for the possibility of selection into neighborhoods. Classification JEL: J01, J22, O18, R21. |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:844&r=lam |
| By: | Florencia López Boo |
| Abstract: | Este documento de trabajo presenta las brechas en el desarrollo cognitivo –medido por una prueba de vocabulario– entre niños de hogares con niveles socioeconómicos (NSE) alto y bajo en dos fases distintas de la infancia (antes y después de los primeros años de escuela) en los cuatro países de bajos y medianos ingresos donde se realiza el estudio Niños del Milenio: Perú, Etiopía, Vietnam y la India (estados de Andhra Pradesh y Telangana). El trabajo provee evidencia intercontinental sobre la significancia del tiempo en que ocurren las brechas, patrones encontrados, y la persistencia de las diferencias. El análisis no paramétrico sugiere que las diferencias halladas a la edad de 5 años persisten en los primeros años escolares en los cuatro países, mientras que el análisis condicional indica que la magnitud de las brechas entre los NSE al interior de cada país parece disminuir con el tiempo (a excepción de la India). Sin embargo, tanto la magnitud de la diferencia como el grado de la persistencia varían. Así, el principal resultado es que Perú destaca de los cuatro países no solo como el de la brecha cognitiva más grande entre niños de familias con más ingresos y los niños más pobres (de alrededor de 1,30 a 1,40 desviaciones estándar), sino también como el país cuyas diferencias persisten más en el desarrollo cognitivo de los niños (como señalan las especificaciones de valor agregado). El documento discute ciertas razones que expliquen estas tendencias, pero en general, las diferencias según NSE se mantienen, incluso cuando se controla mediante una serie de variables, tales como educación inicial, nutrición temprana, y los años de escolaridad. El test de vocabulario que usa la autora es el Peabody Picture Vocabulary, TVIP por sus siglas en inglés), y encuentra que el rendimiento en dicho test a los 5 años de edad es un determinante importante de las diferencias según NSE a la edad de 8 años. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gad:ninosm:ninosm127&r=lam |
| By: | Eustáquio Reis |
| Abstract: | The paper reviews the sluggish growth and inclusive developments of the Brazilian economy in the last decade. The first section analyzes the macroeconomic performance pointing export growth as the engine of growth. The second evaluates social policies and their relationship with the improvements in the labor market. The third examines Brazilian policy reactions to the global crisis that managed to recover consumption but failed to sustain investment and growth. The discussion of challenges for a sustainable development concludes the paper. Investment in education and infrastructure are consensual policy advices but there are plenty of disagreements and controversies with regards to industrial policies, financing strategies and the role to be played by the public sector. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, Macroeconomic performance, Social policies, Financial crisis, Growth strategy |
| JEL: | E63 E64 E65 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:wpaper:134&r=lam |
| By: | Elvio Accinelli (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República); Edgar J. Sánchez Carrera (Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí); Osvaldo Salas (Goteborg University) |
| Abstract: | In this work the evolutionary dynamics of migratory behavior driven by imitation is studied. We show that, any migratory flow, driven by the imitation, can be modeled by a dynamic system, once the rules governing imitative behavior of the population, are established. The parameters characterizing the system are determined by the economic sitatuon in each country from which the migratory current is established, and may be changed from policy considerations and social conditions. These changes, in turn lead to changes in the dynamic system solutions that reflect the evolution of the migratory flow. We show that labor migration can modify the performance of the economies of both receiving countries and those where it starts, positively or negatively, depending on the prevailing characteristics. Finally, elements of economic policy designed to counteract possible negative effects migration are discussed. In particular consider the migrant stream established between Chile and Peru and their possible impact on their economies. |
| Keywords: | Social Welfare; Behavior of Migrants; Evolutionary Games; Theory of imitation; Replicator Dynamics. |
| JEL: | C72 F22 G3 R1 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ude:wpaper:0414&r=lam |
| By: | Rafael NOVELLA; Javier OLIVERA |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses gender differences on cognitive abilities for the elderly poor in Peru. We use a unique and recent survey for the elderly individuals living in poverty in Peru (ESBAM) that includes cognitive tests and a comprehensive set of socio-demographics and subjective and objective health measures. We find significant differences in mental intactness in favour of males, and in episodic memory in favour of females. In contrast, there are not gender differences in an overall measure of cognition, but regional differences appear to matter in favour of urban localities. The sizeable associations of education and childhood nutrition quality with cognition confirm the long-term impacts of early life developments on current outcomes. Therefore, policies aimed at improving early childhood development are expected to have a positive impact in later-life. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces14.11&r=lam |
| By: | Juan D. Soto (Department of Economics, Universidad Católica del Norte); Dusan Paredes (Regional Economics Application Laboratory, University of Illinois) |
| Abstract: | We present evidence regarding the unequal spatial distribution of population in the north and south of Chile which implies that even when geographical distances to the main urban center are similar, the distances in a context of urban hierarchy are completely di?erent. Given this economic geography, we postulate that Central Place Theory provides a better understanding for the study of city size wage gap in Chile. In order to test our hypothesis, we construct ?ve tiers of urban hierarchy using the 2002 National Census and then contrast the e?ect generated by the urban hierarchy on worker wages using nine waves of the National Socioeconomic Characterization Survey (CASEN). |
| Keywords: | Labor productivity, amenities, urban hierarchy. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cat:dtecon:dt201406&r=lam |
| By: | Rafael José Santos |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of the boom in international gold prices on child labor and schooling in Colombia. I first set up a simple agricultural household model of child labor and commodity prices hocks which guides the empirical analysis. Then, I use individual level information from the censuses of 1985, 1993 (when prices where stable) and 2005 (when prices surged) merged with regional data on gold production capabilities. I define Gold Boom as an interaction between regional gold production capabilities and the international price of gold. I find that child labor is increasing (0.3 standard deviations) and school attendance is decreasing (0.9 standard deviations) in the measure of gold boom. Accordingly, the gold boom decreases school attainment (0.2 standard deviations). This is consistent with the model when initial child labor is low and substitution effects dominate income effects. Finally, I find that the years of education of the head of the head of the household but not her ownership of assets mitigate the collateral effects of the gold boom. |
| Keywords: | Colombia, Natural Resources, Gold mining, Child Labor, Education |
| JEL: | D04 D13 I20 J22 O10 O12 |
| Date: | 2014–08–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:012060&r=lam |
| By: | Fernanda Estevan |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I investigate whether increases in public education expenditures lead to reductions in private school enrollment. In order to deal with the endogeneity of public expenditures, I use as a natural experiment the 1998 FUNDEF reform in Brazil that caused exogenous variations in local public school funding. Using data from Brazilian School and Population Censuses, I show that public education expenditures increases are associated with reductions in the share of private school enrollment for Grade 1. However, the effect is smaller for Grades 2 to 4, which is consistent with the existence of costs associated with switching schools. |
| Keywords: | private education; public education; public expenditures; school choice; crowding out. |
| JEL: | H42 H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2014–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2014wpecon14&r=lam |
| By: | Marisa Bucheli (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República); Irene Mussio (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República); Máximo Rossi (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República) |
| Abstract: | The use of moderate physical violence while raising children is an extended practice, accepted as a disciplinary measure. Nevertheless, there is evidence that these practices during childhood produce negative effects in different areas of adult life. This motivates the analysis of the intergenerational transmission of this conduct. We used the survey Encuesta de Situaciones Familiares carried out in 2007 funded by the Research and Innovation National Agency in Uruguay (ANII) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The main purpose of the ESF was to gather information about marriage and divorce, work, fertility, work, child-rearing and children's welfare outcomes, including education, health, and psycho-social development. In our study for the Uruguayan case, we find that for women, the experience of physical punishment during childhood increases the probability of having similar attitudes when raising one's children. This probability increases when the woman has a positive attitude towards punishment as a disciplinary measure. We do not find similar effects of past experiences in the case of men. |
| Keywords: | violencia, hogar, niños, golpeado, castigos |
| JEL: | J12 J13 D0 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ude:wpaper:0713&r=lam |
| By: | Laure Pasquier-Doumer; Fiorella Risso Brandon |
| Abstract: | Esta investigación busca contribuir a comprender los mecanismos subyacentes del complejo proceso de exclusión de los indígenas en el Perú. Las aspiraciones de los niños indígenas son similares a las de los niños no indígenas cuando se observan a los niños de un mismo nivel socio-económico. Sin embargo, la distancia entre la realidad (actual) socio-económica de los niños indígenas y la que pretenden alcanzar es tremendamente más amplia que la que hay entre las expectativas de sus pares no indígenas y su propia realidad.La distancia que los niños indígenas tienen que recorrer entre su contexto real y sus proyecciones es casi el doble que la que les toca a los niños no indígenas. Esa gran diferencia es por las altas restricciones económicas de los niños indígenas o a las mayores limitaciones para acceder a información. Este hallazgo rebate la hipótesis de que los niños indígenas han internalizado prejuicios raciales sobre ocupaciones y oportunidades, lo que los llevaría a que carezcan de aspiraciones. El estudio muestra que es esta gran brecha la que impediría que los niños tomen decisiones para progresar, como invertir en la educación. Este trabajo usa una estrategia original para estimar el efecto causal de la brecha entre la realidad de los niños indígenas y sus aspiraciones en los resultados educativos. La estimación se hace sobre la base de una variable instrumental calculada usando el Censo de la Población. Nuestros estimados sugieren que la brecha de los niños indígenas es tan grande que tiene un efecto positivo sobre la probabilidad de que repitan el grado. El efecto desalentador de la gran brecha para los niños indígenas sobre el esfuerzo que ponen en la escuela se hace más importante cuando ellos crecen, en la medida que ellos están más conscientes del largo trayecto entre sus aspiraciones y su situación. Así, se concluye que el fracaso de los niños indígenas en alcanzar sus aspiraciones deviene de la inequidad persistente entre las personas indígenas y no indígenas. Ello muestra que los niños indígenas enfrentan una gran brecha entre su realidad y sus aspiraciones, que termina afectando sus decisiones, y los lleva a invertir menos en su educación. Este estudio fue presentado en la Conferencia sobre Inequidades en los Resultados de los Niños en Países en Vías de Desarrollo entre el 8 y 9 de julio de 2013, organizado por la Universidad de Oxford |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gad:ninosm:ninosm116&r=lam |
| By: | Jenkins, Stephen P. |
| Abstract: | This article assesses two secondary data compilations about income inequality – the World Income Inequality Database (WIIDv2c), and the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIIDv4.0) which is based on WIID but with all observations multiply-imputed. WIID and SWIID are convenient and accessible sources for researchers seeking cross- national data with global coverage for relatively long time periods. Against these benefits must be set costs arising from lack of data comparability and quality and also, in the case of SWIID, questions about its imputation model. WIID and SWIID users need to recognize this benefit-cost trade-off and ensure their substantive conclusions are robust to potential data problems. I provide detailed description of the nature and contents of both sources plus illustrative regression analysis. From a data issues perspective, I recommend WIID over SWIID, though my support for use of WIID is conditional. |
| Date: | 2014–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2014-31&r=lam |