This article examines the role of local industrial relations, specifically workplace unions and collective bargaining, in improving the working conditions of apparel factories exporting to multinational brands and retailers. Drawing on a unique data set collected in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti,...

The Nicaraguan economy is experiencing robust growth. Real GDP growth accelerated to around 4½ percent in 2023 and the first half of 2024, from about 3.8 percent in 2022, on the back of robust domestic demand, while inflation is moderating. Prudent macroeconomic policies and record-high...

This paper investigates the effects of alleviating remoteness constraints on access to quality maternal and newborn health care. Using a cluster-randomized controlled trial, we provided transportation vouchers to impoverished pregnant women residing in remote Nicaraguan villages located...

This paper investigates the effects of alleviating remoteness constraints on access to quality maternal and newborn health care. Using a cluster-randomized controlled trial, we provided transportation vouchers to impoverished pregnant women residing in remote Nicaraguan villages located...

We investigate the impact of a large new public hospital on directly observed waiting times in emergency departments of other public hospitals in Nicaragua. Using a difference-indifferences design, we estimate a significant decrease in waiting time by 42% or 10.1 minutes in nearby hospitals...

The 2023 Article IV Consultation highlights that Nicaragua's economy has remained resilient in the face of multiple shocks, supported by appropriate economic policies, substantial buffers, and multilateral support. The external and fiscal positions are assessed to be sustainable under the...

This study examines the repercussions of the 1979 Sandinista revolution on Nicaragua's economic growth trajectory. Drawing on the synthetic control method, it constructs an artificial counterpart to Nicaragua with the primary objective of estimating the counterfactual gross domestic product...

This paper studies the drivers of the labor market performance in Nicaragua with a particular focus on informality, to identify vulnerable groups during economic downturns; and estimates the speed of adjustment of employment to shocks. The paper compares this experience with the ones in other...

This paper studies the drivers of the labor market performance in Nicaragua with a particular focus on informality, to identify vulnerable groups during economic downturns; and estimates the speed of adjustment of employment to shocks. The paper compares this experience with the ones in other...

This 2022 Article IV Consultation highlights that prudent macroeconomic policies, substantial pre-crisis buffers and official external financial assistance helped Nicaragua's economy rebound from a protracted contraction during 2018-2020, caused by the socio-political crisis of 2018, two major...

This study examines the repercussions of the 1979 Sandinista revolution on Nicaragua's economic growth trajectory. Drawing on the synthetic control method, it constructs an artificial counterpart to Nicaragua with the primary objective of estimating the counterfactual gross domestic product...

"In the past twenty years, the sugarcane industry in Nicaragua has grown at an unprecedented rate. This growth has been overshadowed by an epidemic of chronic kidney disease of non-traditional causes (CKDnt). Unknown to science before the late 1990s, CKDnt has sickened and killed thousands of...

In this paper, we explore the socio-material infrastructures that maintained and repressed the 2018 Nicaraguan protests, as they made and unmade the insurrectional city. We consider the insurrectional city to be an urban place that is socio-materially reconfigured by the act of revolt and...

In this paper, we explore the socio-material infrastructures that maintained and repressed the 2018 Nicaraguan protests, as they made and unmade the insurrectional city. We consider the insurrectional city to be an urban place that is socio-materially reconfigured by the act of revolt and...

Purpose This paper explores the relationship between married women's intrahousehold decision-making participation and marital gender roles, next to factors suggested in the household bargaining literature. Additionally, the authors investigate whether women's employment carries the same...

Unlike Latin American peers, and contrary to World Health Organization recommendations, Nicaragua eschewed lockdowns and other common strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Analysts have since demonstrated how Nicaraguan authorities dramatically under-reported the number of deaths and...

Unlike Latin American peers, and contrary to World Health Organization recommendations, Nicaragua eschewed lockdowns and other common strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Analysts have since demonstrated how Nicaraguan authorities dramatically under-reported the number of deaths and...

Informal work is often considered a place of employment for marginalized and vulnerable workers who have been rationed out of preferred formal work. However, informality can also be seen as a dynamic sector that budding entrepreneurs and those looking for flexible working conditions enter...

As the smallest economy in Central America, Nicaragua has undergone a structural transformation that has enabled the country to grow at a high pace since the mid-1990s. The objective of this study is to investigate the drivers and constraints of growth and productivity in Nicaragua and explore...

Informal work is often considered a place of employment for marginalized and vulnerable workers who have been rationed out of preferred formal work. However, informality can also be seen as a dynamic sector that budding entrepreneurs and those looking for flexible working conditions enter...

In the last decade, the most popular policy tool used to increase human capital in developing countries has been the conditional cash transfer program. A large literature has shown significant mean impacts on schooling, health, and child labor. This paper examines heterogeneous effects using...

More than half of those who emigrate from developing countries move to other developing countries, yet there have been few studies of the impact of this South-South migration. In this paper, we examine the impact of migration from one developing country, Nicaragua, on the labor market in another...

In the last two decades remittances have gained interest due to their large size. For several developing countries remittances constitute a large portion of their GDP and sometimes exceed FDI. While FDIs are usually profit driven, it is not clear what the driving force behind remittances is....

In the 21st century, technological advances will continue to reach the pinnacle in all the sectors varying from industrialization, health care, education, good infrastructure, agriculture and we know that the use of robotic technologies enables more accurate management and monitor the natural...

In the 21st century, technological advances will continue to reach the pinnacle in all the sectors varying from industrialization, health care, education, good infrastructure, agriculture and we know that the use of robotic technologies enables more accurate management and monitor the natural...

“Trade Policy Reviews" analyse the trade policies and practices of each member of the WTO. The reviews consist of three parts: an independent report by the WTO Secretariat, a report by the government, and the concluding remarks by the Chair of the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Body. The opening...

In this paper I use a unique data set from Nicaragua to asses the behavior of persons who send money back home. I estimate a heteroskedastic Tobit with a known form of variance to estimate the correlation of the remitting decisions of migrants. Working, residing in a developed country and...

The social policy response of the Nicaraguan government to the Covid-19 pandemic has been negligible. No significant social policy measures were adopted to alleviate the negative effects that this health crisis has on the general population. No quarantine or state of emergency was declared. The...