This paper develops a multivariate analysis in order to study the determinants of the household s... more This paper develops a multivariate analysis in order to study the determinants of the household saving rate. For this purpose, the paper uses two microeconomic databases for 1988 and 1996-1997. The main results of the paper support the conventional explanations of saving rates: more than 60% of the variation of saving rates explained by the estimated model is related to
La serie de Documentos de Trabajo en versión PDF puede obtenerse gratis en la dirección electróni... more La serie de Documentos de Trabajo en versión PDF puede obtenerse gratis en la dirección electrónica: http://www.bcentral.cl/Estudios/DTBC/doctrab.htm. Existe la posibilidad de solicitar una copia impresa con un costo de $500 si es dentro de Chile y US$12 si es para fuera ...
Sudden stops and international crises are a main feature of developing countries in the last 25 y... more Sudden stops and international crises are a main feature of developing countries in the last 25 years. While their aggregate costs are well known, the microeconomic channels throught which they work have yet to be explored. In this paper we study their e¤ects on micro variables related to labor ows using sectoral panel data for 4 Latin American countries. We …nd that sudden stops are associated with lower job creation and increased job destruction. We also document that the impact of sudden stops on labor ows are hetero-geneous depending on (i) country-speci…c variables, such as the extent of labor market regulations, and (ii) sector-speci…c variables, such as the dependence of the sector to external …nance. Both sets of factors seem to a¤ect di¤erent margins of adjustment, with labor market regulation a¤ecting mostly existing …rms while …nancial frictions being more relevant for new …rms.
Una de las características empíricas centrales de los regímenes cambiarios de las economías emerg... more Una de las características empíricas centrales de los regímenes cambiarios de las economías emergentes es el llamado ¿miedo a flotar¿. Sin embargo, mientras algunos ven el miedo a flotar como la respuesta monetaria óptima ex post a los shocks externos, pues protege los balances contables y evita brotes inflacionarios, otros argumentan que, desde una perspectiva ex ante, tal política conduce a un subaseguramiento del sector privado contra paradas repentinas de capitales externos. Un compromiso de la autoridad a dejar flotar el tipo de cambio durante las crisis aumentaría el incentivo a que los privados conservaran la liquidez internacional. Este artículo desarrolla un modelo de régimen cambiario óptimo cuando hay preocupaciones tanto ex ante como ex post. Dado que el miedo a flotar solo reduce el seguro durante potenciales paradas repentinas, revisamos los datos sobre regímenes cambiarios en busca de evidencia que pruebe que la flexibilidad cambiaria es condicional al estado de la ec...
We use the historical experience of former colonies to shed light on current debates about the ef... more We use the historical experience of former colonies to shed light on current debates about the effects of school competition on student outcomes. Using cross- country data for about 70 countries and regional data for about 180 African provinces, we show that competition between Protestant and Catholic missionaries increased schooling levels in former colonies. Both our qualitative and quantitative evidence implies that the number of Protestant missionaries increased schooling levels in the past as well as in the present in countries with a Catholic state, and that the impact of Protestant and Catholic missionaries on educational outcomes was similar when missionaries of both denominations faced the same legal and institutional treatment. These results contrast with traditional explanations em- phasizing the role of missionaries' identity. We link our results to differences in the way colonial powers and governments regulated religious and educational markets: in Protestant colon...
This dissertation consists of four essays on human capital, institutions, and incentives. In the ... more This dissertation consists of four essays on human capital, institutions, and incentives. In the first essay, I investigate the effects of voucher-school competition on educational outcomes in Chile. I present a theoretical model that produces three empirical predictions: voucher-school competition 1) improves student outcomes; 2) may put stronger pressure on public schools to increase quality; and 3) has weaker effects when public school budget constraints are softer. I exploit the interaction of the number of Catholic priests and the institution of the voucher system as a potentially exogenous determinant of voucher school entry. Using this instrument, I confirm the main predictions of my theoretical model. In the second essay, I show that cross-country differences in schooling persist to the present because colonial factors influence the extent of institutional variables, such as democracy and political decentralization. By using the number of native cultures before colonization ...
This paper develops a multivariate analysis in order to study the determinants of the household s... more This paper develops a multivariate analysis in order to study the determinants of the household saving rate. For this purpose, the paper uses two microeconomic databases for 1988 and 1996-1997. The main results of the paper support the conventional explanations of saving rates: more than 60% of the variation of saving rates explained by the estimated model is related to
La serie de Documentos de Trabajo en versión PDF puede obtenerse gratis en la dirección electróni... more La serie de Documentos de Trabajo en versión PDF puede obtenerse gratis en la dirección electrónica: http://www.bcentral.cl/Estudios/DTBC/doctrab.htm. Existe la posibilidad de solicitar una copia impresa con un costo de $500 si es dentro de Chile y US$12 si es para fuera ...
Sudden stops and international crises are a main feature of developing countries in the last 25 y... more Sudden stops and international crises are a main feature of developing countries in the last 25 years. While their aggregate costs are well known, the microeconomic channels throught which they work have yet to be explored. In this paper we study their e¤ects on micro variables related to labor ows using sectoral panel data for 4 Latin American countries. We …nd that sudden stops are associated with lower job creation and increased job destruction. We also document that the impact of sudden stops on labor ows are hetero-geneous depending on (i) country-speci…c variables, such as the extent of labor market regulations, and (ii) sector-speci…c variables, such as the dependence of the sector to external …nance. Both sets of factors seem to a¤ect di¤erent margins of adjustment, with labor market regulation a¤ecting mostly existing …rms while …nancial frictions being more relevant for new …rms.
Una de las características empíricas centrales de los regímenes cambiarios de las economías emerg... more Una de las características empíricas centrales de los regímenes cambiarios de las economías emergentes es el llamado ¿miedo a flotar¿. Sin embargo, mientras algunos ven el miedo a flotar como la respuesta monetaria óptima ex post a los shocks externos, pues protege los balances contables y evita brotes inflacionarios, otros argumentan que, desde una perspectiva ex ante, tal política conduce a un subaseguramiento del sector privado contra paradas repentinas de capitales externos. Un compromiso de la autoridad a dejar flotar el tipo de cambio durante las crisis aumentaría el incentivo a que los privados conservaran la liquidez internacional. Este artículo desarrolla un modelo de régimen cambiario óptimo cuando hay preocupaciones tanto ex ante como ex post. Dado que el miedo a flotar solo reduce el seguro durante potenciales paradas repentinas, revisamos los datos sobre regímenes cambiarios en busca de evidencia que pruebe que la flexibilidad cambiaria es condicional al estado de la ec...
We use the historical experience of former colonies to shed light on current debates about the ef... more We use the historical experience of former colonies to shed light on current debates about the effects of school competition on student outcomes. Using cross- country data for about 70 countries and regional data for about 180 African provinces, we show that competition between Protestant and Catholic missionaries increased schooling levels in former colonies. Both our qualitative and quantitative evidence implies that the number of Protestant missionaries increased schooling levels in the past as well as in the present in countries with a Catholic state, and that the impact of Protestant and Catholic missionaries on educational outcomes was similar when missionaries of both denominations faced the same legal and institutional treatment. These results contrast with traditional explanations em- phasizing the role of missionaries' identity. We link our results to differences in the way colonial powers and governments regulated religious and educational markets: in Protestant colon...
This dissertation consists of four essays on human capital, institutions, and incentives. In the ... more This dissertation consists of four essays on human capital, institutions, and incentives. In the first essay, I investigate the effects of voucher-school competition on educational outcomes in Chile. I present a theoretical model that produces three empirical predictions: voucher-school competition 1) improves student outcomes; 2) may put stronger pressure on public schools to increase quality; and 3) has weaker effects when public school budget constraints are softer. I exploit the interaction of the number of Catholic priests and the institution of the voucher system as a potentially exogenous determinant of voucher school entry. Using this instrument, I confirm the main predictions of my theoretical model. In the second essay, I show that cross-country differences in schooling persist to the present because colonial factors influence the extent of institutional variables, such as democracy and political decentralization. By using the number of native cultures before colonization ...
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Papers by Francisco Gallego