If social policies are to be effective, they need to be implemented. A key contributing factor to the success or failure of implementation is the way public sector funds are mobilized, allocated, and disbursed. This is widely recognized, as demonstrated by the wide range of studies analyzing...

Healthcare services are more widespread in Latin America and the Caribbean today than 50 years ago, yet this availability is not necessarily reflected in popular perceptions. This study documents the expansion of healthcare services in the Region in terms of medically-trained professionals,...

A common objection to results-based programs is that they are somehow more vulnerable to corruption. This paper explains why results-based approaches to foreign aid may be less vulnerable to corruption than the traditional approaches which monitor and track the purchase and delivery of inputs...

Although mandatory health insurance programs are being proposed or expanded in many developing countries, relatively little attention has been given to how these programs are governed. The available literature focuses almost exclusively on operational features that are important but will...

Latin America spends large amounts of resources on social services, yet its life expectancy and education levels are low compared to other regions with similar levels of income. A key reason is the inherent difficulty of making social services produce efficiently in reponse to demands and needs

This paper uses household data from two cities in Panama to evaluate the determinants of the tenure decision in the context of two models. The key factors explaining the decision to rent or own are those associated with the family`s lifecycle, while the choice between buying a complete house and...

In the continuing debate over how to improve education systems, many people argue that teachers` salaries need to be increased. This paper seeks to establish a reliable method for analyzing the issue using household survey data from Bolivia

This paper looks at the relationship between health and income. After discussing the general context of health improvements in Latin America during the last few decades, the study elaborates on the interrelationships between the physical and social determinants of health, the complexities that...

Healthcare services are more widespread in Latin America and the Caribbean today than 50 years ago, yet this availability is not necessarily reflected in popular perceptions. This study documents the expansion of healthcare services in the Region in terms of medically-trained professionals,...