This paper estimates the impact of informality on firm profits using a new firm-level survey designed specifically for this study. The survey was administered to about 1,200 firms with 50 employees or less in Ecuador's two largest cities, Quito and Guayaquil, plus two main centers of economic...

This paper estimates the impact of informality on firm profits using a new firm-level survey designed specifically for this study. The survey was administered to about 1,200 firms with 50 employees or less in Ecuador's two largest cities, Quito and Guayaquil, plus two main centers of economic...

The literature on shock-responsive social protection focuses on operational features that improve the speed and reach of the response, but little is known about the optimal design of emergency social protection responses in terms of which programs to use, information about the people affected,...

Although the Latin American region's growth rates are at a three decade high, they have been historically disappointing in relative terms, which cannot be dissociated from the microeconomic environment in which firms operate. Policy makers may need to complement their focus on macroeconomic...

Although the Latin American region's growth rates are at a three decade high, they have been historically disappointing in relative terms, which cannot be dissociated from the microeconomic environment in which firms operate. Policy makers may need to complement their focus on macroeconomic...