This paper analyzes the aggregate effects of a revenue neutral fiscal-cum-social policy reform in a typical developing country that consists of two main changes: (1) the implementation of universal social insurance to replace the current dual social protection system (i.e., a reconfiguration of...

This technical note discusses the civil servant pension system in Brazil over the past two decades. Since 1998 the Brazilian government has been implementing reforms to increase the financial sustainability of its pension schemes - seeking to contain pension deficits without hurting acquired...

This study performs an up-to-date diagnostic of the Brazilian tax system in order to provide a basis for reform discussions among technical analysts, authorities and congressmen. It is based on the analysis and categorization of information on taxation in Brazil. Its focus is on the current...

América Latina e Caribe (ALC) reduziram sua desigualdade e sua pobreza e enfrentarão as próximas décadas com maior otimismo do que no passado. Conforme a região cresce, aparecem novos problemas que os responsáveis pela condução da política econômica devem enfrentar. Como oferecer...

This paper assesses the effects of the Colombian Unemployment Subsidy (US), which includes benefits as well as training for some recipients. Using regression discontinuity and matching differences-in-differences estimators, the study finds that participation in the labor market, earnings of...

Tax policy is among the most common and relevant instruments in the toolkit of policy-makers when thinking about promoting growth, yet there is not compelling evidence regarding its effect in Latin American countries. Using a variety of approaches, we estimate the effects on growth of the most...

While decreasing inequality is generally considered desirable, and there is a growing understanding of which policies do and do not promote equality, much less is known regarding why these policies are adopted to varying degrees of intensity in different times and places. To explain this...

Mexico is characterized by a dual social insurance architecture. Firms and workers in salaried contractual relations are obligated to pay for a bundled set of health, pension and related programs. Nonsalaried workers benefit from an unbundled set of parallel programs paid by the government. We...

This paper discusses the merits of alternative definitions of the structural budget in the context of their use in the design and implementation of fiscal rules. To this end, the paper argues that there are three different purposes behind the notion of a structural budget balance: (a) separating...