This paper argues that the investor reluctance to make long-term commitments to Latin American financial markets results from experience. In the 1980s, while ex ante real interest rates on Latin American financial assets were usually high, ex-post real interest rates were often highly negative....

This paper focuses on the design of successful bank restructuring programs in Latin America, a region where banking crises have been frequent in the past two decades. In each episode, Latin American policymakers have had to act under the severe constraints imposed on developing countries, which...

This paper discusses the ways in which macroeconomic developments can put stress on banks, and in extreme cases lead to banking crises. These macroeconomic causes of bank vulnerability and crisis have important implications for regulatory regimes, and for macroeconomic policy itself. Much of the...

A research project conducted by the Office of the Chief Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank has found preliminary but compelling evidence that the budgetary institutions in Latin America have a significant bearing on fiscal results. The researchers have developed an index of budget...

In this post-modern world of high capital mobility, countries are being disciplined by the anonymous capital market. One view of the situation -perhaps the prevalent view among economists- is that Wall Street gets into your hair because you are running an unsustainable economic program and...

This paper first offers a historical perspective of regulation, the early steps of Colombian industry and the way it grew. The environment was not conducive to the application of legislation that attempted to regulate monopoly or oligopoly, much less to regulate economic power. A discussion of...

This paper surveys gender and ethnic wage gaps in 18 Latin American countries, decomposing differences using matching comparisons as a non-parametric alternative to the Blinder-Oaxaca (BO) decomposition. It is found that men earn 9-27 percent more than women, with high cross-country...

This paper argues that where institutions are strong, actors are more likely to participate in the political process through institutionalized arenas, while where they are weak, protests and other unconventional means of participation become more appealing. This relationship is explored...

What are the reasons for and the costs of Latin America`s volatility? Because there is no consensus on these fundamental questions, there is no consensus on the appropriate policy response to macroeconomic volatility in Latin America, and other shock-prone countries. This paper provides new...

The evidence shows that government spending for health in many developing countries benefits the well-to-do more than the poor. However, a combination of favorable political forces and sound public policies can shift the focus of government expenditures toward the poor. Doing this is an...