This paper assesses the welfare impacts of local investments projects in rural areas of Guatemala. Using census track data from two rounds of the Guatemalan population census, as well as administrative data on investment projects, the authors estimate the impact of education, sanitation,...

This paper provides the first experimental evaluation of the participatory budgeting model showing that it increased public participation in the process of public decision making, increased local tax revenues collection, channeled larger fractions of public budgets to services stated as top...

Government-driven credit played an important role in countervailing the private credit crunch in Brazil during the recent financial crisis. However, government credit concessions continued to expand after the economy recovered. This paper investigates some important features of this expansion...

This paper presents the principal issues related to socio-cultural analyses carried out in conjunction with IDB operations as a tool for maximizing project benefits to poor and excluded groups and for ensuring compliance with many of the Bank's safeguard policies. A companion manual to this...

CARIFORUM States have generally taken a cautious approach in adopting commitments under the Economic Partnership Agreement by having them reflect their World Trade Organization commitments, excluding sensitive subsectors, and inscribing broad horizontal reservations. This report assesses the...

CARIFORUM States have generally taken a cautious approach in adopting commitments under the Economic Partnership Agreement by having them reflect their World Trade Organization commitments, excluding sensitive subsectors, and inscribing broad horizontal reservations. This report assesses the...

This book focuses in detail on the analysis of foreign direct investment flows to Latin America and the Caribbean from the vantage point and on the basis of statistical sources from the main investor countries.

The economic successes of China and India are viewed with admiration but also with concern because of the effects that the growth of these Asian economies may have on the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. The evidence in 'China's and India's Challenge to Latin America' indicates that...

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...

China's size, rapid growth, external openness, and trade performance have led to varying perceptions among the countries of Latin America: Is China a potential new market, a potent new competitor, or both? This book assesses the near-term strategic implications of China's economic performance...