This paper estimates intergenerational mobility in education using data from 91 censuses in 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean spanning over half a century. It measures upward mobility as the likelihood that individuals will complete one educational stage more than their parents...

Water is not only vital for human life but also is a critical economic input. Climate change will likely exacerbate conflicts over the multiple uses of water in Latin America. Adopting a south-south perspective approach, this study compares direct water requirement patterns over time among...

Las internaciones hospitalarias prolongadas, o más largas de lo médicamente necesario, son una gran preocupación para pacientes, pagadores y proveedores. Conceptualizamos y estimamos empíricamente la prevalencia y el costo de las internaciones prolongadas entre pacientes hospitalizados de...

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are often justified for correcting market failures, providing essential public services, and fulfilling social objectives. Yet, SOEs face unique governance challenges as agency conflicts usually increase with state ownership. This paper examines Brazil's efforts to...

In this paper, we study the drivers of public debt surges across 172 countries from 1980-2021. We focus on the role of discrepancies between the annual change in public debt and the budget deficit, referred to as stock-flow adjustments (SFA). The analysis employs survival methods to model the...

Strengthened governance is crucial to reduce economic risks associated with disasters, but little is known about its impact. We combine a new dataset on disaster risk management governance for 26 countries from the Latin America and Caribbean region with annual information on economic losses...

Prolonged hospital stays, or hospital stays that are longer than medically necessary, are a major concern for patients, payers, and providers. We conceptualize and empirically estimate the prevalence and cost of prolonged stays among elderly hospital patients (65 years and older) in Brazil and...

Private firms establish relationships with banks in local markets to obtain adequate financing for their operations through credit and loans. As major banks reduced their branch networks in recent years, many firms have lost access to their local bank. We evaluate the impact of a large number of...

In this study, we investigate the extent and mechanisms of gender-based discrimination in urban Ecuador's hiring practices, a critical issue for understanding persistent gender disparities and informing policy. Using an artifactual field experiment with 392 recruiters evaluating observationally...

This study examines labor law enforcement spillovers in Brazil's highly informal economy, focusing on disability quota enforcement for formal firms. New inspection procedures increased compliance through heightened inspections and fines, boosting disability hiring. We investigate spillover...