People and their jobs: What could be more basic to a person's well being? Where people work determines how they live, how their families live, and how economies perform. The quantity and quality of jobs available has implications for individuals and countries alike. That is why the problems with...

The 2007 Report on Economic and Social Progress in Latin America analyzes the nature and evolution of sovereign debt in Latin America and discusses the policies that can be followed by countries and international financial institutions (IFIs) to reduce the vulnerabilities associated with it....

The second publication in the series "Institutions for People" focuses on the public development banks of Latin America and the Caribbean as they enter a new paradigm. In the last 10 to 15 years, these institutions have made considerable progress in the region towards fulfilling their undoubted...

This paper offers an alternative explanation for t he fall of Argentina's Convertibility Program based on the country's vulnerability to Sudden Stops in capital flows. Sudden Stops are typically accompanied by a substantial increase in the real exchange rate that wreaks havoc in countries that...

This paper surveys the recent literature on fiscal sustainability, with particular emphasis on emerging market countries. It discusses the main elements that differentiate emerging market countries from industrial countries and then discusses how probabilistic models can help to evaluate fiscal...

A segunda edição da série Instituições para o Povo mostra os bancos públicos de desenvolvimento da América Latina e do Caribe frente a um novo paradigma.Nos seis capítulos que compõem o estudo, o tema dos bancos públicos de desenvolvimento é abordado a partir de uma perspectiva...

El presente trabajo busca aportar evidencia sobre la importancia de las remesas en el contexto norte-sur; específicamente, en el corredor Estados Unidos-Costa Rica. Para ello, se analizan los resultados de una encuesta estadísticamente representativa a una muestra de hogares costarricenses...

El presente documento trata de abordar una serie de interrogantes sobre el corredor de migración y remesas Costa Rica-Nicaragua, con el fin de generar conocimiento para la formulación de políticas públicas que atiendan debidamente las oportunidades y retos de éste fenómeno migratorio. Para...

This paper studies the degree to which innovation by Costa Rican manufacturing firms creates or displaces employment, how different innovation strategies affect employment, and how these effects vary by firm size and type of employment demand characteristics (skills and gender). In particular...

Migration, while certainly not new, is on the increase all over the world. Indeed, the United Nations estimates that from 1990 to 2000 alone, the number of people who left their countries of origin rose by 14 percent, from 154 million to 175 million. The phenomenon is not only growing, but is...