This paper tests whether Rodrik's (1999) results that institutions for conflict management are associated with the ability to react to economic shocks are robust to different ways of defining the quality of such institutions. We measure the quality of conflict management institutions with two...

The Research Department of the IDB (RES) performs innovative, comparative research on the development issues of greatest concern to the region today. It generates a wide variety of products based on this research and disseminates them to three principal audiences: the Bank, policymakers and the...

This paper evaluates Progressive Housing Program; a public housing program that facilitates the purchase of a new home. The evaluation finds that the program’s package (savings requirement, voucher and mortgage) design is inappropriate if the program is targeted to the poor. In fact the...

The Mexican Government initiated two innovative programs cash transfer schemes in the last decade: PROGRESA, which is a national anti-poverty scheme directed at chronic rural poverty, and PROCAMPO, a scheme designed to compensate farmers for the negative price effects of NAFTA. The analysis of...

This paper joins in the debate on the size of the middle class in Latin America, providing an analysis of its structure and characteristics. Using several measurements, it finds that 40-60 percent of Latin American households are middle class, a share which has consolidated over the past decade....

Protected areas are a cornerstone of forest conservation in developing countries. Yet we know little about their effects on forest cover change or the socioeconomic status of local communities, and even less about the relationship between these effects. This paper assesses whether 'win-win'...

This technical note analyzes the methodologies used to evaluate neighborhood upgrading programs, describes their results, and suggests approaches for future evaluations. Local and central governments are increasingly utilizing slum or neighborhood upgrading programs to deal with the multiple...

This document focuses on four sectors where socio-cultural analysis is particularly critical for addressing issues of reducing poverty and exclusion. In the case of major infrastructure projects, the primary concern is to minimize or mitigate their impacts on local communities. For projects in...