The purpose of this guideline is to make practitioners aware of simulation approaches for the evaluation of tourism projects. Simulation approaches are particularly useful when experimental or economic approaches for project evaluation are not feasible. For example, it usually is not possible to...

This study assesses poverty in the microenterprise sector in Latin America, presenting stylized facts on potential poverty risk factors at the household and individual levels. The goal of the paper is to describe the main trends in the region and the scope of the paper is limited to a...

This publication aims to help donors, creditors and investors evaluate the performance, condition and risk of individual microfinance institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, in hopes of strengthening the microfinance industry and building the microenterprise sector. It provides concrete...

As the region has entered a phase of recovery leaving behind the episodes of extreme turbulence, and the decision horizons have been somewhat extended, it seems appropriate to reconsider the medium term prospects of Mercosur, including the possibility of moving towards a process of deepening...

This document describes the efforts of the Department of Labor of Rio de Janeiro to build a comprehensive institutional framework focused on the promotion of a long run, micro-firm based local economic development model and to create a path to sustainable economic growth, job creation and...

This technical note will examine the development of the fuel ethanol industry in the United States, biodiesel in the European Union, and fuel ethanol and biodiesel in Brazil, in an effort to understand how the biofuel industry has developed in these regions. It will also evaluate the enabling...

High government debts, weak economic growth, vulnerability to external shocks and the design of sound fiscal consolidation strategies are among the most critical issues that some of the Caribbean countries have currently to deal with. Stabilization programs may harm economic growth but, under...

This paper contributes to the analysis of the Caribbean's growth performance by setting out a framework for benchmarking indicators of key micro drivers and related structural policies that help explain differentials in productivity and real GDP per capita across the region, and relative to...

This policy brief reviews whether the size of a country limits economic growth. Diseconomies of scale, indivisible fixed costs and geographic barriers represent intrinsic characteristics of small economies that might hinder economic growth. However, while some small economies have overcome the...

Although science has unlocked the secrets of the human genome, the causes of social and economic development remain stubbornly enigmatic. Why do some countries adopt new technologies more readily than others? Why does income inequality persist in some regions--even in the face of rapid economic...