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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2015‒02‒28
seven papers chosen by |
| By: | David Tuesta ; Gloria Sorensen ; Adriana Haring ; Noelia Camara |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the three dimensions determining financial inclusion in the case of Argentina, from a micro-economic perspective. On the supply side, formal financial services are accessed through traditional channels: branches and ATMs, with an as-yet incipient regulation for financial inclusion, unlike the situation in neighbouring countries. In terms of use, a person’s level of education, income and age are all important variables which determine whether they have financial products such as accounts, credit and debit cards, formal credit and electronic payments. Finally, the factors affecting the perception of different barriers of involuntary exclusion are: income and age. |
| Keywords: | Argentina, Financial Inclusion, Latin America, Research, Working Paper |
| JEL: | D14 G21 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbv:wpaper:1503&r=lam |
| By: | Luis Eduardo Arango ; Ana María Ríos |
| Abstract: | En Colombia la tasa de desempleo femenina es más alta que la masculina. Al concentrarnos en la duración del desempleo, se verifica la hipótesis de que las mujeres comprometidas (i.e., casadas o en unión libre) tienen episodios de desempleo de mayor duración que los hombres de igual condición. Dados los efectos observados en las tasa de riesgo y en el tiempo de fallo, el ingreso de la pareja reduce el esfuerzo de búsqueda de un empleo tanto en hombres como en mujeres, pero esto se observa con mayor claridad en el caso de ellas. Allí está una de las causas del mayor desempleo femenino. No obstante, el efecto del ingreso de la pareja en la duración del desempleo de las mujeres, se reduce si en los hogares hay niños en su primera infancia. Contar con un mecanismo de divulgación de las vacantes que agilice el emparejamiento de firmas y trabajadores, reduce la duración del desempleo. El ciclo económico afecta la duración. El riesgo de salir del desempleo aumenta hasta los cuatro meses; pero una vez se alcanza este umbral el riesgo se reduce de manera dramática. |
| Keywords: | tasa de desempleo femenina, duración del desempleo, tasa de vacantes. |
| JEL: | J64 J63 |
| Date: | 2015–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:012528&r=lam |
| By: | Stephan Dietrich (Georg-August-University Göttingen ); Marcela Ibanez (Georg-August-University Göttingen ) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the impacts of traditional agricultural insurance that offers protection against climatic shocks on small-scale tobacco farmers in Colombia. We analyze the impacts of access to the insurance on household financial outcomes after a period of severe climatic events that caused substantial crop failures. Our identification strategy benefits from a natural experimental setup of the form in which the insurance was launched. We find that tobacco producers with access to the insurance program were less likely to acquire informal loans, were less likely to use loans to repay debts, and had access to loans with lower interest rates and longer maturation periods. Moreover, access to this program was positively associated with increased savings and accumulation of liquid assets. |
| Keywords: | Insurance; Credit; Natural Disasters; Risk Management; Colombia |
| JEL: | G22 G23 O13 O16 Q14 |
| Date: | 2015–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:gotcrc:165&r=lam |
| By: | Rodrik, Dani |
| Abstract: | I document a significant deindustrialization trend in recent decades, that goes considerably beyond the advanced, post-industrial economies. The hump-shaped relationship between industrialization (measured by employment or output shares) and incomes has shifted downwards and moved closer to the origin. This means countries are running out of industrialization opportunities sooner and at much lower levels of income compared to the experience of early industrializers. Asian countries and manufactures exporters have been largely insulated from those trends, while Latin American countries have been especially hard hit. Advanced economies have lost considerable employment (especially of the low-skill type), but they have done surprisingly well in terms of manufacturing output shares at constant prices. While these trends are not very recent, the evidence suggests both globalization and labor-saving technological progress in manufacturing have been behind these developments. Premature deindustrialization has potentially significant economic and political ramifications, including lower economic growth and democratic failure. |
| Keywords: | Deindustrialization; industrialization |
| JEL: | O14 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10393&r=lam |
| By: | Orazio Attanasio ; Sarah Cattan ; Emla Fitzsimons ; Costas Meghir ; Marta Rubio-Codina |
| Abstract: | We examine the channels through which a randomized early childhood intervention in Colombia led to significant gains in cognitive and socio-emotional skills among a sample of disadvantaged children. We estimate production functions for cognitive and socio-emotional skills as a function of maternal skills and child's past skills, as well as material and time investments that are treated as endogenous. The effects of the program can be fully explained by increases in parental investments, which have strong effects on outcomes and are complementary to both maternal skills and child's past skills. |
| JEL: | H31 I24 I25 I28 I3 J38 O1 O15 O54 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20965&r=lam |
| By: | Sebastian Edwards |
| Abstract: | I use data on 180 sovereign defaults to analyze what determines the recovery rate after a debt restructuring process. Why do creditors recover, in some cases, more than 90%, while in other cases they recover less than 10%? I find support for the Grossman and Van Huyk model of “excusable defaults”: countries that experience more severe negative shocks tend to have higher “haircuts” than countries that face less severe shocks. I discuss in detail debt restructuring episodes in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Greece. The results suggest that the haircut imposed by Argentina in its 2005 restructuring (75%) was “excessively high.” The other episodes’ haircuts are consistent with the model. |
| JEL: | F34 F41 G15 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20964&r=lam |
| By: | Juan Pablo Mejía Villar, Cristian David Segura Benavides, Javier Andrés Silva Sandoval |
| Abstract: | Resumen El objetivo principal de este artículo es tratar el tema del hacinamiento carcelario en Colombia. En este contexto se tocarán aspectos teóricos y éticos de la economía y el de- lito, teniendo en cuenta conceptos de economía ortodoxa y heterodoxa como oferta, demanda, costos y utilidades del crimen que influyen en la decisión de delinquir. Además observaremos las causas del hacinamiento en sus variables cuantitativas y cualitativas, número de presos existentes y la capacidad instalada de las cárceles, número de centros de reclusión en el país; con el agravante de las condiciones sociales de desempleo, deficiencia en la prestación de la salud, falta de educación, violencia, distribución desigual de la riqueza, entre muchas otras. Se plantean posibles soluciones a los aspectos tratados anteriormente, como fortalecimiento del sistema penal, de una educación con calidad, de seguridad pública y de valores inculcados desde una edad temprana. |
| Keywords: | Hacinamiento, delito, sistema penitenciario, pena, seguridad, educación. |
| JEL: | A12 H1 I3 I28 K14 |
| Date: | 2013–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000464:012557&r=lam |