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on Central and South America |
| By: | Francisco Ferreira (London School of Economics); Paolo Brunori (London School of Economics); Guido Neidhofer (ZEW Mannheim); Pedro Salas-Rojo (CUNEF); Louis Sirugue (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that relative measures of intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunity are closely related ways of quantifying the inheritability of inequality. We review both literatures for Latin America, looking both at income and educational persistence. We document very high levels of intergenerational persistence and inequality of opportunity for education, with inherited characteristics predicting 29% to 52% of the current-generation variance in years of schooling. Inherited circumstances are somewhat less predictive of educational achievement, measured through standardized test scores, accounting for 20% to 30% of their variance. Our estimates of inequality of opportunity for income acquisition suggest that between 46% to 66% of contemporary income Gini coefficients can be predicted by a relatively narrow set of inherited circumstances, making Latin America a region of high inequality inheritability by international standards. Our review also finds a very wide range of intergenerational income elasticity estimates, with substantial uncertainty driven by data challenges and methodological differences. |
| Keywords: | Inherited inequality, intergenerational mobility, inequality of opportunity, Latin America |
| JEL: | D31 I39 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2026-689 |
| By: | Luis Laguinge; Leonardo Gasparini; Guido Neidhöfer |
| Abstract: | Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes aim to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty by fostering human capital accumulation among children in vulnerable households. However, due to data limitations, evidence on their long-run effects remains scarce. This paper contributes to the literature in two main ways. First, by proposing a methodological approach to estimate the long-term impacts of CCTs in the absence of longitudinal data. |
| Keywords: | Conditional cash transfers, Human capital, Labour, Income, Brazil, Latin America |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2026-14 |
| By: | María Cervini-Plá (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Alina Machado (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the exogenous shock of COVID-19, which led to a transition from in-person to online education, on the academic performance of university students, with a particular focus on gender differences. We exploit a unique and comprehensive dataset that includes all evaluation activities and their outcomes, for students enrolled in 2018 and 2019 at the main university in Uruguay. Using difference-in- differences techniques, we find that female students outperformed their male counterparts by passing more courses and improving their grade point average. This effect is observed among women from medium and higher socioeconomic backgrounds and those who enter university immediately after finishing secondary school. Exploring the mechanisms behind these outcomes, we find that women report having greater participation compared to in-person classes, perceive more advantages in staying at home, and recognize more benefits in not commuting to the educational institution. |
| Keywords: | Gender, higher education, performance, online learning, university |
| JEL: | I21 I23 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-22-25 |
| By: | Martín Leites (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Rodrigo Nicolau (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Gonzalo Salas (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we examine the determinants of children’s economic aspiration. Drawing on microdata from Estudio Longitudinal del Bienestar en Uruguay, we explore alternative measures of economic aspirations. Then, we address three fundamental components of children’s aspiration window: (i) parental economic aspirations, (ii) family socioeconomic background, and (iii) parents´ peer. Finally, we test the presence of aspiration failures and their implications for well-being. Our results confirm that parents’ aspirations are the key driver of children’s economic aspirations. Peers’ parents and their beliefs influence only the aspirations of children from low-income families. Higher aspirations reduce short-term well-being but enhance outcomes between generations, providing insights into aspiration-driven behaviors and the persistence of inequality. |
| Keywords: | Aspirations, beliefs, well-being, socialization processes |
| JEL: | O10 O12 O15 D30 I3 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-23-25 |
| By: | Matias Busso; Sebastián Montaño (UMD - University of Maryland [College Park] - University System of Maryland); Juan Muñoz-Morales (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - ULCO - Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Using longitudinal data of college graduates in Colombia, we estimate labor market returns to postsecondary degrees and to various skills—including literacy, numeracy, foreign language, and field-specific skills. Graduates of academic programs and schools of higher reputation obtain higher earnings relative to vocational public programs. A one standard deviation increase in each skill predicts average earnings increases of 1–3%. Returns vary along the earnings distribution, with tenure, with the degree of job specialization, and by gender. Our results imply that degrees and skills capture different human capital components that are rewarded differently in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | numeracy, literacy, foreign lan- guage, field-specific, Colombia, returns to education, returns to skills |
| Date: | 2024–09–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05490565 |
| By: | Guillermo Cruces; Diego Fernández Meijide; Sebastian Galiani; Ramiro H. Gálvez; María Lombardi |
| Abstract: | Does generative artificial intelligence (AI) reinforce or reduce productivity differences across workers? Existing evidence largely studies AI within firms and occupations, where organizational selection compresses educational heterogeneity, leaving unclear whether AI narrows productivity gaps across individuals with substantially different levels of formal education. We address this question using a randomized online experiment conducted outside firms, in which 1, 174 adults ages 25–45 with heterogeneous educational backgrounds complete an incentivized, workplace-style business problem-solving task. The task is a general (not domain specific) exercise, and participants perform it either with or without access to a generative-AI assistant. Unlike prior work that studies heterogeneity within relatively homogeneous worker samples, our design targets the between–education-group productivity gap as the primary estimand. We find that AI increases productivity for all participants, with substantially larger gains for lower-education individuals. In the absence of AI access, higher-education participants outperform lower-education participants by 0.548 standard deviations; with AI access, this gap falls to 0.139 standard deviations, implying that generative AI closes about three quarters of the initial productivity gap. We interpret this pattern as evidence that generative AI narrows effective productivity differences in task execution by relaxing cognitive constraints that are more binding for lower-education individuals, even though underlying skill differences remain, as reflected in persistent education gaps in task performance and in a follow-up exercise without AI assistance. |
| JEL: | J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34851 |
| By: | Luis Eduardo Castellanos-Rodríguez (Universidad de los Andes) |
| Abstract: | Can emergency unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) protect educational investments and human capital accumulation during economic crises? While UCTs mitigate immediate economic hardship, evidence on their capacity to safeguard educational outcomes during emergencies remains limited. This study investigates Brazil’s Auxílio Emergencial program, one of the developing world’s largest emergency cash transfer programs, and its impact on educational attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using household survey microdata and a regression discontinuity design that exploits exogenous variation in program eligibility, I estimate causal effects on educational attendance among demographic groups within vulnerable single-mother households. Eligibility increased attendance by 16.0 percentage points for young men aged 18–24, with effects driven primarily by those who had dropped out and re-engaged with secondary virtual education. The effects are concentrated among men and are not statistically significant for women. The mechanism operates by reducing economic pressure on households, enabling continued educational participation among younger members while preventing primary earners from engaging in low-quality or informal employment. |
| Keywords: | Unconditional cash transfers, Education, Regression discontinuity design, Brazil, COVID-19 |
| JEL: | H52 H75 I20 I38 O54 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:022251 |