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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2017‒07‒16
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Margarita Beneke; Nora Lustig; José Andrés Oliva |
| Abstract: | We conducted a fiscal impact study to estimate the effect of taxes, social spending, and subsidies on inequality and poverty in El Salvador, using the methodology of the Commitment to Equity project. Taxes are progressive, but given their volume, their impact is limited. Direct transfers are concentrated on poor households, but their budget is small so their effect is limited; a significant portion of the subsidies goes to households in the upper income deciles, so although their budget is greater, their impact is low. The component that has the greatest effect on inequality is spending on education and health. Therefore, the impact of fiscal policy is limited and low when compared with other countries with a similar level of per capita income. There is room for improvement using current resources. |
| Keywords: | fiscal incidence, poverty, inequality, El Salvador |
| JEL: | D31 H22 I14 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:447&r=lam |
| By: | Pellandra, Andrea |
| Abstract: | El surgimiento de China como una fuerza importante en la economía mundial ha creado un importante competidor en los mercados de productos industriales de sus principales socios comerciales. Sin embargo, el país asiatico trajo también beneficios sustanciales para varios países debido a su creciente demanda de recursos naturales y productos relacionados. En este estudio, se utilizan datos de la encuesta de hogar de Chile de 2003 y 2011 para estudiar los efectos heterogéneos de estos dos choques de oferta y demanda en el contexto de los mercados laborales de uno de los países de América Latina cuya estructura exportadora es más fuertemente orientada hacia los bienes primarios. |
| Keywords: | COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL, RELACIONES ECONOMICAS, EMPLEO, MERCADO DE TRABAJO, EMPLEO DE LA MUJER, POBREZA, HOGARES, ESTADISTICAS DEL EMPLEO, INDICADORES ECONOMICOS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, ECONOMIC RELATIONS, EMPLOYMENT, LABOUR MARKET, WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT, POVERTY, HOUSEHOLDS, EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS, ECONOMIC INDICATORS |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col025:41855&r=lam |
| By: | Miguel Vazquez; Michelle Hallack |
| Abstract: | In Brazil, a scoring auction decides which firm has the right to explore oil and gas in a region. One of its dimensions is the amount of local content that firms are willing to implement. However, local content programs are subject to significant uncertainty and complexity so mal-adaptation costs are relevant. We characterize players’ bidding behavior when they have information on local content implementation and when they do not. We test those predictions using historical bids. Our tests suggest that the mechanism would be more efficient if the definition of local content programs was left out of the auction. |
| Keywords: | Local content; Scoring auctions; Adaptation costs; Oil and gas industry. |
| JEL: | D23 D82 H57 L14 L22 L74 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcu:iefewp:iefewp94&r=lam |
| By: | Miguel Martín-Retortillo; Vicente Pinilla; Jackeline Velazco; Henry Willebald |
| Abstract: | In the last third of the nineteenth century, a large majority of Latin America adopted export-led models of growth, mostly based on agricultural exports. In some countries, this strategy produced significant results in terms of economic development but in most of the countries, the strategy was not successful, either because of too slow growth in exports or because linkages with the rest of the economy were very weak and there was no significant growth-spreading effect. After WWII, Latin America turned to a new model of economic development: the import substitution industrialisation (ISI). The ISI policies penalised export-led agriculture. The 1980s and 1990s were characterised by an expansion of adjustment policies and structural reforms. The new strategy consisted of mobilising resources in competitive export sectors, including agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Latin American agriculture, agricultural development, export-led growth model, import substitution industrialization, agricultural growth, Latin American economic history |
| JEL: | N16 N56 Q10 Q17 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:seh:wpaper:1703&r=lam |
| By: | Luz Karime Abadía Alvarado |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper measures the math and reading gender score gap of Colombian students in the Pisa test. Estimations confirm that on average, when comparing boys and girls with similar individual, family and school characteristics boys outperform girls in math and the opposite happens in reading. Moreover, using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition I find that observables favor girls and they account for the 22% and 34% of the gap in math and reading respectively. This effect is due mainly to individual factors, that is, if girls were not in a greater proportion in the last scholar grades of secondary education and she had not a lower repetition grade the math gap would be grater and lower in reading. Resumen Este trabajo mide la brecha de género académica en matemáticas y lectura de los estudiantes colombianos en las pruebas PISA. Los resultados de las estimaciones confirman que en promedio, cuando se compararan niños y niñas con similares características individuales, familiares y escolares los niños obtienen mejores puntajes que las niñas en matemáticas y lo contrario sucede en lectura. Adicionalmente, usando la descomposición de Blinder-Oaxaca se encuentra que las características observables favorecen a las niñas y éstas explican el 22% y el 34% de la brecha en matemáticas y lectura respectivamente. Este efecto se debe principalmente a las características individuales, es decir, si las niñas no estuvieran en mayor proporción en los últimos grados del bachillerato y adicionalmente una menor tasa de repitencia escolar en comparación con los niños la brecha en matemáticas sería mayo y la de lenguaje menor. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: PISA, gender score gap, performance, math, reading, inequality. Palabras clave: PISA, brecha de género escolar, desempeño, matemáticas, lectura, desigualdad. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2017–04–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000416:015645&r=lam |
| By: | Hauk, Esther (IAE Barcelona (CSIC)); Oviedo, Mónica (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Ramos, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between people's beliefs about the quality of their institutions, as measured by corruption perceptions, and preferences for redistribution in Latin America. Our empirical study is guided by a theoretical model which introduces taxes into Foellmi and Oechslin's (2007) general equilibrium model of non-collusive corruption. In this model perceived corruption influences people's preferences for redistribution through two channels. On the one hand it undermines trust in government, which reduces people's support for redistribution. On the other hand, more corruption decreases own wealth relative to average wealth of below-average-wealth individuals leading to a higher demand for redistribution. Thus, the effect of perceived corruption on redistribution cannot be signed a priori. Our novel empirical findings for Latin America suggest that perceiving corruption in the public sector increases people's support for redistribution. Although the positive channel dominates in the data, we also and evidence for the negative channel from corruption to demand for redistribution via reduced trust. |
| Keywords: | preference for redistribution, perception of corruption, political trust, bribery, Latin America |
| JEL: | D31 D63 H1 H2 P16 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10854&r=lam |