This report raises a number of fundamental questions about the multidimensional and interrelated nature of social exclusion and moves beyond the traditional emphasis on outcomes and groups to view exclusion as a process that results from societal traits that limit the functionings of the...

This report moves beyond the conventional scope of economics to examine three entrenched structural factors -demography, geography and institutions- that are closely connected to economic and social development. Historical in nature and slow to evolve, these variables are not always in the...

The formality status of a job is the most widely used indicator of job quality in developing countries. However, a number of studies argue that, at least for some workers, the informality status may be driven by choice rather than exclusion. This paper uses job satisfaction data from three...

Mediante una evaluación cuasi-experimental, este trabajo estudia el impacto de una capacitación tendiente a mejorar las prácticas administrativas y el desempeño de un grupo de micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas (MiPyME) clientes de una entidad de microfinanzas que opera en Costa Rica...

Using firm level data on 70,000 enterprises in 107 countries, this paper finds important effects of access to finance, business regulations, corruption, and to a lesser extent, infrastructure bottlenecks in explaining patterns of job creation at the firm level. The paper focuses on how the...

Durante los años noventa, siete países de América Latina reformaron sus sistemas pensionales para introducir sistemas de capitalización individual basados total o parcialmente en el modelo de capitalización chileno. El factor desencadenante de las reformas fue el fuerte desequilibrio...

This paper analyzes five Productive Development Policies (PDPs) implemented in Costa Rica, finding that they are not optimally addressing market failures. Moreover, government failures rather than market failures represent the main justification for PDPs. Even in the presence of market failures,...

This paper reviews the regulations governing hiring, firing, overtime work, social security contributions, minimum wages, and collective bargaining in the region, examining their impact on labor market outcomes.

This paper examines the impact of the recent wave of trade liberalization and economic reform on employment. Four alternative measures of openness and four measures of the real exchange rate are used to measure the impact of trade reforms on manufacturing and economy-wide employment. Across a...

This study sheds light on how Costa Rica's insertion in global value chains occurs by examining governance patterns, the type of activities involved, and the level of underlying innovation in the selected value chain. The paper describes in detail two case studies of electronic-related companies...