This paper examines the emergence of three new successful export activities in Argentina: biotechnology applied to human health, blueberries and chocolate confections. The main interest lies in ascertaining why these sectors/products were targeted, on which previously accumulated capabilities...

The gender of the household head has often been treated as an exogenous determinant of homeownership. This paper argues that several determinants of homeownership also affect household headship and that failing to explicitly account for this endogeneity leads to inconsistent results. Using...

Using micro data on judicial proceedings in Uruguay, this paper presents evidence that female defendants receive more favorable treatment in courts than male defendants. This is due to longer foreclosure proceedings and higher probabilities of being granted extensions in evictions and...

This paper analyzes gender differences in three Chilean professional labor markets, Business, Law and Medicine, utilizing a new and rich data set collected for this purpose. The results show that differences in wages attributed to gender are only present in the legal profession. In...

This paper assesses the extent to which a country's external capital structure can aid in mitigating the macroeconomic impact of oil price shocks. Two Caribbean economies highly vulnerable to oil price shocks are considered: an oil importer (Jamaica) and an oil exporter (Trinidad and Tobago)....

This study seeks to identify, measure and analyze possible discriminatory behaviors in southern Ecuador. There are three main findings. First, emigration is perceived as a social problem. Second, emigrant families are seen as economically “irrational” because they are not perceived to be...

This paper explores the role of social networks in determining the participation of Bolivian women in income-generating activities. The empirical analysis intends to explore the impact of this new social variable on the economic choices of women and its relative importance with respect to other...

The objective of this paper is to better understand peer popularity during adolescence and detect discrimination. High school students in Argentina are asked to select and rank 10 classmates with whom they would like to form a team to perform school activities, and this information is then used...

This paper computes several indicators of water coverage, quality, and prices in Ecuador's two largest cities: Quito and Guayaquil—both before and after the privatization of water services in Guayaquil. The type of data sources that are used make it possible to specifically control for income...

The incomplete privatization of the electric sector in Peru provides a unique scenario for evaluating the impact of public versus private provision. The results in this paper suggest that management of electricity firms by the private sector leads to a significant improvement in the quality of...