The microinsurance market in Latin America is still in its embryonic phase. The purpose of this technical note is to better inform donors, national governments, and insurance companies interested in promoting financial inclusion about how they can accelerate the development of microinsurance...

This paper compares the dynamic consistency of targeting methodologies that use multidimensional welfare indicators with those based on means and proxy means tests using panel data from Mexico. To make these comparisons, an extension of the Alkire and Foster (2008) dual cutoff multidimensional...

This paper estimates the impact of a large temporary poverty relief program, Uruguay’s PANES—on birth outcomes. Using program administrative data and longitudinal vital statistics, a significant and precisely estimated reduction in the fraction of low-weight newborns (less than 2,500 g. ) on...

This paper explores the role played by policy instruments in access to housing finance by low-income households. It also analyzes the impact of housing credit and subsidies on both the quality of life and the quality of dwelling of the beneficiaries. Using the Quality of Life Surveys conducted...

Durante la década de los noventa, los Fondos de Inversión Social fueron el mecanismo por excelencia para la entrega de obras sociales a poblaciones vulnerables en épocas de ajustes y crisis económicas. Desde entonces, los FIS se han convertido en instituciones con objetivos de más largo...

The current coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented public health challenge that has devastating economic impacts for households. Using a sample of 230,540 respondents to online surveys in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, we show that the economic impacts are large and unequal:...

This paper proposes a methodology to resolve the problems that result from using a combination of objective and subjective information in evaluating urban quality of life. The paper further suggests techniques to identify and rank issues of potential importance for urban dwellers. In order to...

This paper applies a method designed by the BID to monitor of urban quality based on the combination of two approaches: hedonic prices and lifestile satisfaction. This combination allows the assessment of local public resources from both the market point of view and that of profitability. Unlike...

The international community has pledged 11 billion dollars to Haiti, a country where non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide nearly all public goods and services. This raises at least two questions: How can NGOs most effectively perform their own work, and how can NGOs integrate their...

Tax evasion is a pervasive problem in many countries. In particular, some developing countries do not collect even half of what they would if taxpayers complied with the written letter of the law. The academic literature has not been oblivious to the need to explain why people pay (or do not...