Micro and small-sized enterprises (MSE) have a central role in economic development in Latin America given their large contribution to employment generation, their share in the total number of firms and, to a lesser extent, their contribution to gross domestic product. Yet, their production is mainly oriented to the domestic market and they are characterized by an increasing productivity gap with...

• Más detalles

This is a stimulating book which explores the relationship between employment conditions and health outcomes. The authors provide a conceptual framework to illustrate the channels through which health outcomes are determined and affected; this framework includes individual and aggregate variables, such as the economic, political and environmental conditions. The book also includes case studies...

• Más detalles

This paper aims to analyse the space and time distribution of the infant mortality rate (IMR) at municipality level in Colombia before and after conferring greater responsibilities to the municipalities for the administration of the local health care systems. Using special econometrics, we find that there is a geographical concentration of IMR persisting over time and defining two groups of...

• Más detalles

Despite countless initiatives to alleviate malnutrition over the years, it affects hundreds of thousands of children in Sri Lanka. Understanding the determinants of malnutrition and their contribution to socio-economic inequality in malnutrition is essential in targeting specific socio-economic groups to improve their nutrition levels. This study attempts to identify the socio-economic...

• Más detalles

As Latin American and the Caribbean countries face rapid aging transitions, the economic contribution of older workers would need to be strengthened. This paper uses household data from Brazil and Mexico to characterize labor market behavior of older workers, such as participation, sector and type of employment, and productivity, to identify critical areas for policy intervention. The paper also...

• Más detalles

Using Mexican cohort data for 1991-2000 this article examines the relationship between retirement decisions —the transition from work to labor market inactivity— and social security (contributive) pensions in less developed countries. The available large time series also makes possible to examine how a financial crisis that took place in 1995 has affected retirement incentives. In most Latin...

• Más detalles

Este artículo presenta un conjunto de mediciones de los costos y beneficios reales del plan general de retiro por jubilación proporcionado a los ciudadanos por parte del Sistema Mexicano de Pensiones (SMP), que son necesarias para evaluar las decisiones de los trabajadores en cuanto a la contribución a la seguridad social (es decir, trabajar en el sector formal) y al retiro. El SMP ofrece dos...

• Más detalles

The document that was presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2011 sets forth a series of proposals to encourage member countries to achieve universal health coverage. These proposals are presented in detail and are based both on world statistics and case studies.

• Más detalles

This study uses Mexico's 2008 National Household Survey of Income and Expenditure to I construct an easy-to-use scorecard that estimates the likelihood that a household has income below a given poverty line. The scorecard uses ten simple indicators that field workers can quickly collect and verify. Poverty scores can be computed on paper in the field in about five to ten minutes. The scorecard's...

• Más detalles

The document presents spending projections and projections of the distributive incidence for an Integrated Health System under three basic scenarios: status quo, a two pillar scheme (financed through general taxes and private spending) and a three pillar scheme (financed through general taxes, social security contributions and private spending). By presenting these simulations, the study enhances...

• Más detalles

Alrededor del mundo se observan dos versiones de la organización de los seguros de salud; la seguridad social basada en el empleo, y los servicios nacionales de salud. En Latinoamérica regularmente se usa la primera, pero se está lejos de lograr la cobertura universal. En los Países Bajos encontramos una peculiar mezcla de obligaciones públicas y responsabilidades privadas. La cobertura universal...

• Más detalles

Why societies differ in their level of violence? This is the question addressed by North, Wallis, and Weingast. To provide an answer they must develop a rich theory of how individuals and organizations that compose a human group voluntarily surrender their will to act violently in exchange for participating in a society with improved conditions for the creation and conservation of wealth.

• Más detalles

The Economics of Crime: Lessons for and from Latin America makes an important contribution to the study of crime and violence in Latin America and to the debate about what works for reducing crime (and at what cost?). As the title of the book correctly suggests, the book brings together contributions from Latin American economists on the determinants and consequences of crime, as well as...

• Más detalles

Designing educational policies under limited budgets requires a thorough analysis of the impact of alternative factors on student performance. This work aims at providing an analysis of the relationship between university performance and its explanatory factors. The analysis Will focus on the Argentinean case, using the 1994 Census of Students in National Universities, which includes data on all...

• Más detalles

The teachers union in Mexico, or Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE) represents over 1 million members and is the largest in Latin America. This study uses data from the national student tests administered by the Instituto Nacional para la Evaluación de la Educación (INEE), along with data from the Mexican Ministry of Education and other sources, to investigate the...

• Más detalles

Los choques suelen asociarse principalmente con movilidad descendente o con movimientos cíclicos de corto plazo en los cuales se entra y sale de la pobreza. Sin embargo, es probable que los hogares que se encuentran en la parte inferior de la distribución del bienestar sean aquellos que tienen mayores limitaciones para acceder a mecanismos de aseguramiento. En este estudio, consideramos si los...

• Más detalles

A pesar de los múltiples esfuerzos por mitigar la desnutrición que se han realizado a través de los años, ésta afecta a cientos de miles de niños en Sri Lanka. Es de vital importancia entender los factores determinantes y las desigualdades socioeconómicas en las condiciones de desnutrición para poder concentrar la ayuda en grupos socioeconómicos específicos con objeto de mejorar su estado de...

• Más detalles

Esta investigación evaluó los efectos de varios factores contextuales (por ejemplo, la inseguridad vecinal, la evaluación de los espacios públicos, la infraestructura, los comportamientos de bajo riesgo) en materia de cohesión social y de satisfacción residencial, en el contexto de individuos de situación socioeconómica baja y media-baja que se encuentran cerca de espacios públicos (parques e...

• Más detalles

La formación de capital social es de suma importancia para países en vías de desarrollo. El presente trabajo investiga los efectos en rescates de espacios públicos en zonas marginadas de México. Los efectos son estimados mediante balanceo en los puntajes de propensión. Nos enfocamos en los resultados de percepción de seguridad, asistencia y capital social. Se encontró que debido a la intervención...

• Más detalles

Una organización es un grupo de personas que reúnan requisitos de membresía establecidos y cuya forma y función son generalmente reconocidos. Los requisitos para ser miembro de una organización pueden basarse en rasgos heredados o adquiridos. Las organizaciones existen porque proporcionan un entorno en el que los miembros de rasgos similares pueden satisfacer sus necesidades físicas y...

• Más detalles