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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2018‒03‒26
nine papers chosen by |
| By: | Leandro PEREIRA MORAIS (State University of São Paulo – UNESP – ARARAQUARA, Brazil); Miguel Juan BACIC (State University of Campinas, Brazil) |
| Abstract: | Social and Solidarity Economy is a field growing in importance in the agenda of discussions and practices in a governmental context of public policies in their several entities, multilateral organizations, as well as among researchers of the area, in Brazil and around the world. The emergence of territorial policies of Social and Solidarity Economy represent an interesting case in the construction of a “new” area of local public action. In his view, the emergence of territorial policies of Social and Solidarity Economy offers a “historic opportunity” for the consolidation and renewal that gives Social and Solidarity Economy. In this sense, this article intends discuss the connections between Social and Solidarity Economy and territorial development and presenting the Program “Territories of Citizenship” in Brazil, which targets the promotion of economic development and the universalization of basic programs of citizenship, through a strategy of sustainable territorial development. |
| Keywords: | Social and Solidarity Economy; Territorial Development; Solidarity Economy Enterprises |
| JEL: | J43 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crc:wpaper:1706&r=lam |
| By: | Olmos, Ximena |
| Abstract: | Los productores y exportadores del sector agroalimentario de América Latina están incorporando cada vez más la sostenibilidad ambiental como un aspecto relevante de su competitividad internacional. Con ello dan respuesta a las demandas de los mercados internacionales, particularmente de países desarrollados, y apoyan la generación de programas o normas nacionales que permiten mejorar el desempeño ambiental de los sectores agrícola, pesquero, acuícola, pecuario e industrial. En este documento se presentan diversas experiencias que incorporan la sostenibilidad ambiental en las estrategias de exportación de productos agroalimentarios de Chile, Colombia, el Ecuador y el Uruguay. El foco está puesto en aquellas iniciativas desarrolladas a partir de alianzas público-privadas y en su evolución, de manera de identificar buenas prácticas que puedan ser ilustrativas para otros países en relación con las diversas variantes que puede tomar la sostenibilidad ambiental de las exportaciones. Estos esfuerzos incluyen enfoques multidisciplinarios, que van desde la investigación y los cambios en las prácticas agrícolas o pesqueras hasta la promoción en los mercados externos. No es posible abarcar todos estos aspectos a través de una sola institución o de manera simultánea. Por esta razón, las estrategias que se revisan se han desarrollado a lo largo de varios años y han involucrado la participación de diversos actores. |
| Keywords: | AGRICULTURA, DESARROLLO AGRICOLA, EXPORTACIONES, ALIMENTOS, COMERCIO ALIMENTARIO, ASPECTOS AMBIENTALES, GAS DE EFECTO INVERNADERO, DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, AGRICULTURE, AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, EXPORTS, FOOD, FOOD TRADE, ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS, GREENHOUSE GASES, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT |
| Date: | 2017–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:43288&r=lam |
| By: | Cabrera, José María; Cid, Alejandro; Bernatzky, Marianne Bernatzky |
| Abstract: | This is the first paper to analyze the effects of intense personal assistance on the compliance with labor regulation, within a population of deeply disadvantaged informal workers, using a field experiment. We randomly assign one-on-one assistance to these workers, and, within this treatment group, we randomly assign money to cover the cost of fulfilling the legal requirements to get a permit to work on the streets. One month after the intervention, we find that a worker who receives one-on-one assistance is three times more likely to comply with the legal documentation required by the government than a worker in the control group. We also find that a worker who receives both one-on-one assistance and cost coverage is four times more likely to comply with the legal requirements. The findings of this study shed light on strategies to help highly vulnerable workers to comply with labor regulations. |
| Keywords: | case management; one-on-one assistance; randomized control trial; field experiment; labor regulation. |
| JEL: | C93 D04 D46 I30 J62 |
| Date: | 2016–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84639&r=lam |
| By: | Enrique Vasquez (Universidad de Pacifico, Centro de Investigación) |
| Abstract: | During 2000-2015, Peru achieved an average annual growth rate of GDP - higher than the average of Latin America (2.85%) - of 5.3% (World Bank, 2017). This generated an increase in the average monthly salary of US$ 505.6 PPP in 2004 to US$ 851.4 PPP in 2015 (INEI, 2016).This improvement of growth and real income resulted in a reduction of both the monetary poverty (42.4% in 2007 to 27.8% in 2011), (INEI, 2012, p. 26), as well as the multidimensional poverty index (55.47% in 2007 to 37% in 2011), (Vásquez, 2012). Moreover, the Gini index changed from 0.525 in 2001 to 0.439 in 2014 (ECLAC, 2017). However, some labour indicators showed that in 2015, only 50.8% of the Occupied EAP had an adequate employment and 45.7% was underemployed (INEI, 2016). In turn, the number of conflicts increased from 47 in 2004 to 211 in 2015, according to the Peru Ombudsman Office (Defensoría del Pueblo, 2015).The aim of this paper is to identify the determinants of the paradox of a country that grows in macroeconomic terms under social unrest. The Peruvian economy generated positive conditions for growth from 2000 through 2015. However, there was not a fair distribution of economic outcomes across the 25 regions within Peru (CIES & BID, 2012). By the year 2015, the poorest regions showed rates of monetary poverty incidence between 44.7% to 51.7%. On the contrary, one single region had the lowest rate of poverty (3.22%) (INEI, 2016, p. 62). On the other hand, the relative position of the HDI country was one of the lowest among the rest of Latin America and Caribbean. Regarding social unrest, around the 2000s the country experienced several conflicts and the population did not trust the government. Since 2008, the number of social conflicts increased considerably and originated violent demonstrations. These conflicts, the origins of which were mainly socio-environmental, were the channel through which the population showed social discontent and also made an impact on governance indicators. This level of conflict emerged from the existing inequalities in the country. The conflicts emerged in local places where the population was poor, disorganized and inadequately represented, but with an unexpected high capacity of protest (López Lancho, 2015, pp. 6-7). To conclude, it can be showed the existence of a paradox that relates high economic growth with a high level of social conflicts developed in the country. |
| Keywords: | Peru, economic growth, economic performance, social unrest, poverty, inequality |
| JEL: | N16 N36 O17 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:5908087&r=lam |
| By: | Blanco, Magdalena; Cabrera, José María; Cid, Alejandro; Carozzi, Felipe |
| Abstract: | Simultaneity bias complicates the estimation of the causal effect of motorcycle helmet usage on fatalities. We overcome this obstacle by exploiting an exogenous variation in the enforcement of the motorcycle helmet usage law between two municipalities in Uruguay. We show evidence of a dramatic increase in helmet usage in one municipality after the law was enforced. In just one month, usage increased from less than 10% to more than 90%. Our difference in difference estimates show that helmet usage laws are associated with a significant decrease in injuries and fatalities. |
| Keywords: | motorcycle accidents, helmet, natural experiment, prevention |
| JEL: | I1 I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84652&r=lam |
| By: | Cid, Alejandro; Cabrera, José María |
| Abstract: | We analyze the results of a policy of massive allocation of usufruct rights to cuidacoches: persons performing surveillance of parked vehicles in the streets. Surprisingly, despite the low cost and the considerable benefits to legally acquiring the right of use on the block, half of the potential beneficiaries have rejected the subscription to the program. In order to understand this market and the mobility between being in the legal framework or outside the law, we built a unique database containing economic and sociodemographic information from cuidacoches in Montevideo. We highlight four findings: the heterogeneity in the reasons for accepting or rejecting the legal framework; the protection of the right of usufruct on the block as the main perceived benefit of complying with the legal framework; the desire to change jobs for the vast majority, and the low saving capacity. |
| Keywords: | Usufruct rights; property rights; social mobility; aspirations; labor market |
| JEL: | I3 J4 O12 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84736&r=lam |
| By: | Leonel Muinelo-Gallo (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Andreas P. Kyriacou (Universitat de Girona (Spain). Departament d’Economia); Oriol Roca-Sagalés (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). Departamentd’Economia Aplicada) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze the performance over the economic cycle of different items of social-type fiscal expenditures in Uruguay during the period 1988:1 to 2015:4. The study is organized as follows. Section 2 provides a descriptive analysis of the regulations and composition governing the current system of public transfers in Uruguay. Section 3 analyses the performance of the structure of the tax-transfer system in Uruguay. Section 4 details the behavior of the different tax transfers for Uruguay, identifying their pro- or countercyclical nature. In section 5, we analyze how the way in which fiscal transfers have been updated or indexed has been able to influence the cyclical behavior of public transfers. Finally, section 6 outlines conclusions and policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Business cycles, Fiscal policy, Uruguay |
| JEL: | E62 H50 H60 H70 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-01-18&r=lam |
| By: | Chari, V. V.; Nicolini, Juan Pablo; Teles, Pedro |
| Abstract: | We study cooperative optimal Ramsey equilibria in the open economy addressing classic policy questions: Should restrictions be placed to free trade and capital mobility? Should capital income be taxed? Should goods be taxed based on origin or destination? What are desirable border adjustments? How can a Ramsey allocation be implemented with residence-based taxes on assets? We characterize optimal wedges and analyze alternative policy implementations. |
| Keywords: | Capital income tax; free trade; value-added taxes; border adjustment; origin- and destination-based taxation; production e |
| JEL: | E60 E61 E62 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12753&r=lam |
| By: | Cid, Alejandro; Cabrera, José María; Bernatzky, Marianne |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of frequent testing on the performance of undergraduate freshmen. Methodology The impact evaluation of the intervention is designed as a field experiment -a randomized control trial. First, instructor divided the class in groups of three students in a joint-liability framework, a setting that fosters peer monitoring among students. Then, the groups were randomly assigned to high-frequency testing (tests on a weekly schedule) or a low-frequency testing (tests on a biweekly schedule). Each testing condition lasted for 15 weeks, and data on academic achievement were collected both before and after the intervention. Findings Although high-frequency groups show a higher mean performance on academic results, the findings do not indicate a definitive improvement in performance in weekly versus biweekly testing. We related our findings with recent discoveries on students’ perception of frequent assessments and its relation to motivation. Originality A large body of educational literature investigates the effect of the frequency of testing on learning performance. Less attention has been devoted to explore the mechanisms behind that relationship. We contribute to this emerging literature analyzing the effect of test frequency on a sample of Uruguayan university students, in a novel setting (a joint-liability framework), exploring mechanisms and suggesting lessons for future research. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: frequent assessment; intrinsic motivation; grades; perceptions; classroom field experiment; feedback; procrastination |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84616&r=lam |