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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2022‒07‒11
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Gandelman, Néstor; Lluberas, Rodrigo |
| Abstract: | This paper presents harmonized indicators for household wealth, its components, and its determinants (including intergenerational mobility) in four Latin American countries (Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay), using Spain as a comparison benchmark. It is based on recently-available microdata from financial surveys. The paper analyzes the relationship between wealth indicators and sociodemographic characteristics of household heads (age, education, gender, marital status). |
| Keywords: | Desarrollo, Economía, Familia, Investigación socioeconómica, Políticas públicas, |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dbl:dblwop:1904&r= |
| By: | Daniel Mejía; Ervyn Norza; Santiago Tobón; Martín Vanegas-Arias |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of broken windows policing on crime using geo-located crime and arrest reports for 80 Colombian cities. Broadly defined, broken windows policing consists of intensifying arrests -sometimes for minor offenses- to deter potential criminals. To estimate causal effects, we build grids of 200 × 200 meters over the urban perimeter of all cities and produce event studies to look at the effects of shocks in police activity in the periods to follow. We use spikes in the number of arrests with no warrant -which are more likely associated with unplanned police presence- as a proxy for shocks in broken windows policing. As expected, we observe an increase in crimes during the shock period, as each arrest implies at least one crime report. In the following periods, crimes decrease both in the place of the arrests and the surroundings. With many treated grids and many places exposed to spillovers, these effects add up. On aggregate, the crime reduction offsets the observed increase during the shock period. Direct effects are more immediate and precise at low crime grids, but beneficial spillovers seem more relevant at crime hot spots. The effects of broken windows policing circumscribe to cities with low or moderate organized crime, consistent with criminal organizations planning their activities more systematically than disorganized criminals. |
| Keywords: | crime, violence, police, arrests, spillovers |
| JEL: | K42 O17 E26 J48 C93 |
| Date: | 2022–06–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:020199&r= |
| By: | Britta Rude |
| Abstract: | I exploit the staggered roll-out of a universal early childhood development program in Chile to assess the impact of a comprehensive approach to early childhood development on outcomes in middle childhood. Using variation across time and municipalities, I study outcomes such as school performance, cognitive development, parental stress, household relationships, and health. I use administrative data on students as well as newborns in Chile, standardized test scores of all 4th graders, and an extensive early childhood development survey. I find positive and significant effects on school performance. The effect is less pronounced for girls and the socioeconomically vulnerable population. The improvements in learning outcomes are driven by improvements in intra-household relations. Comprehensive programs are powerful tools but have several flaws. |
| Keywords: | Education and inequality, government policy, children, human capital |
| JEL: | I24 I28 I38 J13 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_372&r= |
| By: | Jose De Gregorio; Manuel Taboada |
| Abstract: | This study uses national accounts, household surveys, and administrative records to provide consistent distributional series, emphasizing labor income between 2006 and 2017. Our new methodology is able to correct the known limitations of different data sources and combine them coherently for the first time using Chilean data. In contrast to estimations in advanced economies we propose methods to estimate data that are not available, which could be use to estimate distributional series in other developing countries with limited official statistics. The validity of the imputations is verified by contrasting the results with various external references. On average, the underestima- tion of gross wages in the Chilean national household survey as compared to national accounts is 40%, significantly larger than other countries. About a quarter of this gap is attributed to the “missing rich†in the survey. For 2017, this equates to an esti- mated median gross income for dependent labor of CLP 600,000 and CLP 570,000 for all workers. The corrected mean-median income ratio (Gini) is 26% (17%) larger than in the raw survey of 2017, and falls only 6% (3%) between 2006 and 2017 compared with a larger decline of 12% (11%) in the original data. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udc:wpaper:wp532&r= |
| By: | Magdalena Delaporte; Francisco Pino |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of female political representation on violence against women. Using a Regression Discontinuity design for close mayoral elections between female and male candidates in Brazil, we find that electing female mayors leads to a reduction in episodes of gender violence. The effect is particularly strong when focusing on incidents of domestic violence, when the aggressor is the ex-husband/boyfriend, and when victims experienced sexual violence. The evidence suggests that female mayors might implement different policies from male mayors and therefore contribute to reduce gender violence. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udc:wpaper:wp534&r= |
| By: | Katzkowicz, Noemí; Querejeta, Martina; Rosá, Tatiana |
| Abstract: | This paper documents spatial patterns in intergenerational mobility at the top of the educational distribution and assess the role of public policies in increasing educational opportunities. Our analysis relies on novel administrative data of public university students in Uruguay’s, a small high income developing country. We first document that the percentage of university students whose parents did not attain university increased 7 p.p between 2002 and 2020. Tough this imply a significant increase in intergenerational mobility spatial inequality still prevails. As a way to reduce this inequality of opportunities, the main public University started a campus expansion policy in 2008. We exploit the time and location variation in the implementation to provide causal evidence of its impact on total enrollment and the share of first-generation university students (mobility at the top). Results from the difference in differences analysis show that the policy was successful in increasing the number of students from localities and the share of students with parents that do not hold a university degree (3% increase) in those localities where campuses opened but also in those 50 kms around. Our results suggest the important role of public policies in the reduction of inequality of opportunities and in increasing mobility at the top. |
| Keywords: | Desarrollo, Educación, Investigación socioeconómica, Jóvenes, Políticas públicas, Sector académico, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dbl:dblwop:1852&r= |