This paper focuses on the link between television coverage and violent crime, in particular, homicides in Brazil, a country where crime has grown dramatically in recent decades. Using Census data for the period 1980–2000, the paper finds... more
This paper focuses on the link between television coverage and violent crime, in particular, homicides in Brazil, a country where crime has grown dramatically in recent decades. Using Census data for the period 1980–2000, the paper finds that people living in areas covered by television signal have significantly lower rates of homicides. The effect is strongest for men of lower socioeconomic status.
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This paper measures the impact of an old age unconditional cash transfer program in Bolivia (Bolivida) on children’s human capital investments by ethnicity and gender of the recipient. Taking advantage of the regression discontinuity... more
This paper measures the impact of an old age unconditional cash transfer program in Bolivia (Bolivida) on children’s human capital investments by ethnicity and gender of the recipient. Taking advantage of the regression discontinuity created by the program, I investigate whether this exogenous variation in income is allocated differently within indigenous, multiethnic, and non-indigenous families, conditional on having at least one eligible member and one school-age child living in the household. I find that cultural factors play a key role in the human capital intrahousehold resource allocation process. Bolivida transfers to women and men both lead to increases in children’s educational investments; however, women are more effective at promoting human capital accumulation. The pattern of allocation within ethnic groups is clear; non-indigenous and multiethnic beneficiaries have larger impacts on the expenditure in children’s education than analogous indigenous beneficiaries. The ch...
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Page 1. Information technologies and provision of national identification cards by the Bolivian Police: Evidence from two randomized natural field experiments ∗ Monica Yanez-Pagans Alberto Chong Gustavo Machicado Salas Abstract ...
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Esta sintesis presenta los resultados de una evaluacion de impacto del PEC desde su creacionen 2001 al 2016. Los resultados se presentan en forma separada para las escuelas primarias ysecundarias. Los resultados muestran que el PEC no... more
Esta sintesis presenta los resultados de una evaluacion de impacto del PEC desde su creacionen 2001 al 2016. Los resultados se presentan en forma separada para las escuelas primarias ysecundarias. Los resultados muestran que el PEC no tiene efectos sobre los aprendizajes de losestudiantes de primaria medidos a traves de la prueba estandarizada de PLANEA. Sin embargo,el PEC reduce el porcentaje de estudiantes de secundaria que se ubica en el nivel mas bajo deesta prueba y su impacto es muy similar en magnitud entre los estudiantes de las escuelas dealta y baja marginacion. El PEC tambien incrementa el porcentaje de estudiantes de secundariaque se ubica en el nivel mas alto de PLANEA, pero solo entre los estudiantes de escuelas de altamarginacion.
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This paper explores the methodological differences underlying the construction of the national consumption aggregates that are used to estimate international poverty rates for South Asian countries. The analysis draws on a regional... more
This paper explores the methodological differences underlying the construction of the national consumption aggregates that are used to estimate international poverty rates for South Asian countries. The analysis draws on a regional dataset of standardized consumption aggregates to assess the sensitivity of international poverty rates to the items included in the national consumption aggregates. A key feature of the standardized aggregate is that it includes the reported value of housing rent for urban Indian homeowners. Using the standardized consumption aggregates reduces the international poverty rate in South Asia by 1.3 percentage points, impacting the status of about 18.5 million people. Comparing standardized and nonstandardized monetary welfare indicators to other nonmonetary indicators suggests that the latter are more consistent with the standardized consumption aggregates. Overall, the results strongly suggest that harmonizing the construction of welfare measures, particul...
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La extension de la jornada escolar se ha constituido desde los anos ochenta como una de las politicas educativas elegidas por los paises latinoamericanos para la atencion de los ninos y los jovenes de sectores sociales vulnerables. La... more
La extension de la jornada escolar se ha constituido desde los anos ochenta como una de las politicas educativas elegidas por los paises latinoamericanos para la atencion de los ninos y los jovenes de sectores sociales vulnerables. La politica asume que el mayor tiempo de instruccion deberia traducirse en un aumento en las horas de instruccion efectiva, y con ello, elevar el desempeno academico de los estudiantes y mejorar otros indicadores educativos. La evidencia internacional advierte que no hay una relacion clara entre tiempo de instruccion obligatoria y aprendizaje. Solo en casos cuando existen ciertas condiciones habilitantes, es que el aumento de horas se realiza de manera efectiva logrando un impacto causal en indicadores educativos. En Mexico, el Programa Escuelas de Tiempo Completo (PETC) fue disenado en el 2007 con el objetivo de brindar mayores oportunidades de aprendizaje para ninos y jovenes al extender el horario escolar para incorporar actividades complementarias que...
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The development objective of the School Based Management Project for Mexico is to improve schools' managerial capacity and parental participation to reduce dropout, repetition and failure rates among PEC Schools and PETC Schools.The... more
The development objective of the School Based Management Project for Mexico is to improve schools' managerial capacity and parental participation to reduce dropout, repetition and failure rates among PEC Schools and PETC Schools.The proposed restructuring is a response to the Borrower's requests dated May 29, 2018 and July 20, 2018 to reallocate USD 150,000 from Category 2 Project Incremental Costs under the Project to Category 1 Goods, minor works and consultants' services financed under the relevant Direct Support and USD 965,000 from Category 3 Consultants' services, non-consulting services and Capacity Building under the Project to Category 1. Due to national budgetary restrictions, SEP was unable to carry out consulting services planned under Category 3 and will be unable to disburse the full category amount. Furthermore, resources planned for travel expenses under Category 2 were deemed ineligible by the Government of Mexico, leaving a large amount of resources...
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This update introduces Bangladesh's new poverty numbers at $1.90 per capita per day in 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) prices, followed by an account of recent economic development, the outlook, risks, and policy responses. The... more
This update introduces Bangladesh's new poverty numbers at $1.90 per capita per day in 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) prices, followed by an account of recent economic development, the outlook, risks, and policy responses. The revised poverty rates are significantly lower, but follow the same downward historical trend seen when using the 2005 international extreme poverty line. Bangladesh can bring its extreme poverty rate down to nearly zero by 2030 either by accelerating GDP growth to 9 percent per year, or by maintaining its recent growth rate while taking steps to make growth more inclusive. Bangladesh is on track to sustaining its recent 6 plus percent growth in the near and medium-term, driven by exports and strong domestic demand. Security, financial and trade shocks are the main risks. The policy challenges are to boost productivity and private investment by reforming business regulations, addressing infrastructure and energy deficits and increasing the efficiency of...
Sudan has the potential to become a dynamic economy and a bread basket for the Arab world and East-Central Africa. However, resource endowment is not sufficient to bring about sustainable growth and prosperity. Sudan's macroeconomic... more
Sudan has the potential to become a dynamic economy and a bread basket for the Arab world and East-Central Africa. However, resource endowment is not sufficient to bring about sustainable growth and prosperity. Sudan's macroeconomic conditions remain weak since the secession of South Sudan in 2011, despite some improvements. The repercussions of the secession of South Sudan present enormous challenges for Sudan with respect to managing the macro-fiscal adjustment and promoting a structural re-orientation of the economy. The signing in March 2013 of the implementation matrix of the agreement between Sudan and South Sudan provides some fresh financial relief to Sudan and creates a great opportunity for further policy reforms to address the post-secession challenges. Sudan's growth strategy should involve policies aimed at improving the investment climate and broadening private sector-led growth, and diversifying the economy toward non-oil sectors such as agriculture, industry,...
(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) Este trabajo estructura un nuevo conjunto de datos sobre la propiedad y el desempeño de la banca, abarcando aproximadamente 50. 000 observaciones en 119 países entre 1995 y 2002. Se emplea dicho... more
(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) Este trabajo estructura un nuevo conjunto de datos sobre la propiedad y el desempeño de la banca, abarcando aproximadamente 50. 000 observaciones en 119 países entre 1995 y 2002. Se emplea dicho conjunto de datos para reevaluar la relación entre la propiedad y el desempeño de la banca, generándose estimaciones por separado para países en
Page 1. Information technologies and provision of national identification cards by the Bolivian Police: Evidence from two randomized natural field experiments ∗ Monica Yanez-Pagans Alberto Chong Gustavo Machicado Salas Abstract ...
Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Institute for the Study of... more
Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to enco...
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ABSTRACT Slum populations are commonly characterized as having poorly developed water and sanitation systems and may access services through informal channels. However, there are limited representative profiles of water and sanitation... more
ABSTRACT Slum populations are commonly characterized as having poorly developed water and sanitation systems and may access services through informal channels. However, there are limited representative profiles of water and sanitation services in slums, making it difficult to prioritize interventions that will make services safer for residents. This cross-sectional study examines the quality of and access to water and sanitation services in government-defined slums across Dhaka, Bangladesh. Access is generally high but is subject to quality issues related to safety, reliability and liability. Services are often operated by informal middlemen at various stages of provision.
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This paper explores the methodological differences underlying the construction of the national consumption aggregates that are used to estimate international poverty rates for South Asian countries. The analysis draws on a regional... more
This paper explores the methodological differences underlying the construction of the national consumption aggregates that are used to estimate international poverty rates for South Asian countries. The analysis draws on a regional dataset of standardized consumption aggregates to assess the sensitivity of international poverty rates to the items included in the national consumption aggregates. A key feature of the standardized aggregate is that it includes the reported value of housing rent for urban Indian homeowners. Using the standardized consumption aggregates reduces the international poverty rate in South Asia by 1.3 percentage points, impacting the status of about 18.5 million people. Comparing standardized and nonstandardized monetary welfare indicators to other nonmonetary indicators suggests that the latter are more consistent with the standardized consumption aggregates. Overall, the results strongly suggest that harmonizing the construction of welfare measures, particul...