We find that family separation during migration has a negative impact on the educational success of immigrant children in U.S. schools. Children separated from parents during migration are more likely to be behind others their age in school, are more likely to repeat a grade, and are more likely...

In this paper we use an individual- and household-level panel data set to study the impact of changes in legal minimum wages on a host of labor market outcomes including: a) wages and employment, b) transitions of workers across jobs (in the covered and uncovered sectors) and employment status...

We document changes in income and earnings inequality in the five Central American countries from the early 1990s to 2009. In the 1990s Costa Rica had the most equal distribution of income in Central America, and one of the most equal distributions of income in Latin America. At the other...

After declining from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, earnings inequality in Costa Rica stabilized from 1987 to 1992 and then increased from 1992 to 1999. In this paper we use recently-developed techniques to measure the extent to which these changes in earnings inequality were the result of...

In August 2010, the Costa Rican government implemented a comprehensive program to increase compliance with legal minimum wages, the Campaña Nacional de Salarios Mínimos (National Campaign for Minimum Wages). To evaluate the impact of the Campaign, the authors use a regression discontinuity...

This paper analyzes heterogeneity among the self-employed in 74 developing countries, representing two-thirds of the population of the developing world. After profiling how worker characteristics vary by employment status, it classifies self-employed workers outside agriculture...

We document changes in income and earnings inequality in the five Central American countries from the early 1990s to 2009. In the 1990s Costa Rica had the most equal distribution of income in Central America, and one of the most equal distributions of income in Latin America. At the other...

Do minimum wage policies reduce poverty in developing countries? It depends. Raising the minimum wage could increase or decrease poverty, depending on labor market characteristics. Minimum wages target formal sector workers—a minority of workers in most developing countries—many of whom do...