Saving for Development
Saving for Development

Author: Inter-American Development Bank

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-07-08

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1349949299

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Why should people - and economies - save? This book on the savings problem in Latin America and the Caribbean suggests that, while saving to survive the bad times is important, saving to thrive in the good times is what really counts. People must save to invest in health and education, live productive and fulfilling lives, and make the most of their retirement years. Firms must save to grow their enterprises, employ more workers in better jobs, and produce quality goods. Governments must save to build the infrastructure required by a productive economy, provide quality services to their citizens, and assure their senior citizens a dignified, worry-free retirement. In short, countries must save not for the proverbial rainy day, but for a sunny day - a time when everyone can bask in the benefits of growth, prosperity, and well-being. This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.

The Economics of Contemporary Latin America
The Economics of Contemporary Latin America

Author: Beatriz Armendariz

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2017-05-05

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 0262337878

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Analysis of Latin America's economy focusing on development, covering the colonial roots of inequality, boom and bust cycles, labor markets, and fiscal and monetary policy. Latin America is richly endowed with natural resources, fertile land, and vibrant cultures. Yet the region remains much poorer than its neighbors to the north. Most Latin American countries have not achieved standards of living and stable institutions comparable to those found in developed countries, have experienced repeated boom-bust cycles, and remain heavily reliant on primary commodities. This book studies the historical roots of Latin America's contemporary economic and social development, focusing on poverty and income inequality dating back to colonial times. It addresses today's legacies of the market-friendly reforms that took hold in the 1980s and 1990s by examining successful stabilizations and homemade monetary and fiscal institutional reforms. It offers a detailed analysis of trade and financial liberalization, twenty–first century-growth, and the decline in poverty and income inequality. Finally, the book offers an overall analysis of inclusive growth policies for development—including gender issues and the informal sector—and the challenges that lie ahead for the region, with special attention to pressing demands by the vibrant and vocal middle class, youth unemployment, and indigenous populations.

The Global Findex Database 2017
The Global Findex Database 2017

Author: Asli Demirguc-Kunt

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2018-04-19

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1464812683

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In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

The Economics of Crime
The Economics of Crime

Author: Rafael Di Tella

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 486

ISBN-13: 0226791858

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This title presents a survey of the crime problem in Latin America, which takes a very broad and appropriately reductionist approach to analyse the determinants of the high crime levels, focusing on the negative social conditions in the region, including inequality and poverty, and poor policy design, such as relatively low police presence. The chapters illustrate three channels through which crime might generate poverty, that is, by reducing investment, by introducing assets losses, and by reducing the value of assets remaining in the control of households.

Saving in Latin America and the Caribbean
Saving in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author: Francesco Grigoli

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2015-05-18

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13: 1513575368

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This paper analyzes saving patterns and determinants in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), including key policy variables and regimes. The review of previous empirical studies on LAC saving reveals contradictions and omissions. This paper presents empirical results of an extensive search of determinants of private and public saving rates, adding previously neglected variables (including different measures of key external prices and macroeconomic policy regimes), in linear form and in interactions with other saving determinants. It analyzes statistical differences in saving determinants between LAC and the rest of the world in a nested econometric framework, and discusses differences across three country subgroups within LAC. The results highlight commonalities and differences in saving behavior between LAC and other world regions, as well as within LAC, identifying the role of key policy variables and regimes.

Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America
Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America

Author: Mr. Ravi Balakrishnan

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-04-26

Total Pages: 123

ISBN-13: 1484326091

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Over the past decades, inequality has risen not just in advanced economies but also in many emerging market and developing economies, becoming one of the key global policy challenges. And throughout the 20th century, Latin America was associated with some of the world’s highest levels of inequality. Yet something interesting happened in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. Latin America was the only region in the World to have experienced significant declines in inequality in that period. Poverty also fell in Latin America, although this was replicated in other regions, and Latin America started from a relatively low base. Starting around 2014, however, and even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, poverty and inequality gains had already slowed in Latin America and, in some cases, gone into reverse. And the COVID-19 shock, which is still playing out, is likely to dramatically worsen short-term poverty and inequality dynamics. Against this background, this departmental paper investigates the link between commodity prices, and poverty and inequality developments in Latin America.

Crisis and Reform in Latin America
Crisis and Reform in Latin America

Author: Sebastian Edwards

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780195211054

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This work provides a thorough analytical review of the processes that led to the transformation of many Latin American economies during the last decade. The author examines every aspect of adjustment and reform since 1980 and suggests alternative ways to consolidate the achievements.

Banking Crises in Latin America
Banking Crises in Latin America

Author: Ricardo Hausmann

Publisher: IDB

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 9781886938120

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Banking crises occur in both industrial and developing countries, but in Latin America they last longer, affect a larger segment of the banking industry and cost the public more. In Banking Crises in Latin America, distinguished policymakers, academicians and bankers examine the main causes of such crises, how governments can manage them more effectively, and how they can be prevented. The six sections of the book focus on the salient features of Latin American banking systems, the macroeconomic causes of banking crises, the microeconomic factors leading to bank difficulties, and the particular constraints that make the management of banking crises more complicated in Latin America than in industrial countries. Policy recommendations at both the macro- and microeconomic level aim to improve the resilience of banking systems to unanticipated shocks. The last section of the book turns the focus to experiences of individual countries. Contributors include Eduardo Aninat, Guillermo Calvo, Michel Camdessus, Sebastian Edwards, Enrique Iglesias, Lawrence Summers and Paul Volcker.

Law and Employment
Law and Employment

Author: James J. Heckman

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2007-11-01

Total Pages: 585

ISBN-13: 0226322858

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Law and Employment analyzes the effects of regulation and deregulation on Latin American labor markets and presents empirically grounded studies of the costs of regulation. Numerous labor regulations that were introduced or reformed in Latin America in the past thirty years have had important economic consequences. Nobel Prize-winning economist James J. Heckman and Carmen Pagés document the behavior of firms attempting to stay in business and be competitive while facing the high costs of complying with these labor laws. They challenge the prevailing view that labor market regulations affect only the distribution of labor incomes and have little or no impact on efficiency or the performance of labor markets. Using new micro-evidence, this volume shows that labor regulations reduce labor market turnover rates and flexibility, promote inequality, and discriminate against marginal workers. Along with in-depth studies of Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Jamaica, and Trinidad, Law and Employment provides comparative analysis of Latin American economies against a range of European countries and the United States. The book breaks new ground by quantifying not only the cost of regulation in Latin America, the Caribbean, and in the OECD, but also the broader impact of this regulation.