This paper develops a conceptual framework and offers new statistical evidence on the access to credit by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Guatemala and Nicaragua. To this end, and after reviewing the existing literature on the topic, it produces new empirical evidence drawn from...

Our paper sets up a simple model to assess, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, the relative pros and cons of housing downpayment and interest rate subsidies on the access to and the stability of the mortgage market. Our analysis unveils a number of relevant policy lessons for the...

There exists a widespread perception that Argentine households channel a large share of their savings into real state. However, no hard evidence has produced to date to measure how important this saving behavior is for the determination of housing prices vis-à-vis the traditional housing motive...

This paper analyzes mortgage loan demand in Argentina using a new survey administered in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. It is found that recurring macro volatility and violation of financial property rights have increased demand for real estate as an investment, which in turn raises house...

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the banking system, over and beyond its credit function, has a significant impact on per capita GDP by providing means of payment. An annual database of 85 countries spanning the 1980-2008 period is exploited to this end. On the descriptive front,...

This study uses for the first time household survey data from a number of Latin American countries to investigate the degree and effects of the access to credit on the income and education of poor households. With this goal in mind, multivariate regressions are run to estimate the impact of the...

The paper investigates the effect of remittances on the coverage of financial deficits arising during youth and retirement years and their influence on some household behaviors. To this end, household survey information is used from Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua to perform a number of...

Recent empirical and theoretical literature on the impact of real exchange rate devaluations on economic performance questions the traditional expansionary effect generated within standard Mundell-Fleming models. Contractionary devaluations may arise when firms face maturity or currency...