The independence of central banks has an effect on the macroeconomic results of economies and ultimately on inflation. A similar relationship may exist between budget institutions and the fiscal performance of governments. Budget institutions may have a bearing on fiscal results. There is...

This paper focuses on the design of successful bank restructuring programs in Latin America, a region where banking crises have been frequent in the past two decades. In each episode, Latin American policymakers have had to act under the severe constraints imposed on developing countries, which...

This book compares the superlative performance of Asia's conventional systems with the poor performance of Latin America's schools, despite higher spending by the latter. The book showcases a variety of educational innovations developed to respond to Latin America's poor educational...

This book compares the superlative performance of Asia's conventional systems with the poor performance of Latin America's schools, despite higher spending by the latter. The book showcases a variety of educational innovations developed to respond to Latin America's poor educational...

Throughout the twentieth century, there was a notable population shift in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, from rural living situations to urban centers. In 2000 there were 49 cities with populations of over one million, four of them among the 10 largest cities in the world....

An undistorted free market economy endowed with perfectly rational and informed agents overborrows, i.e., borrows beyond the efficient level, because of the agents' failure to internalize credit rationing resulting from sovereign risk. It follows that the elimination of the market overborrowing...

This paper describes the reforms aimed at simplifying the administrative procedures for labor registration and the payment of social security contributions that were carried out in Argentina in 2005 and 2007. Analysis of the legislation, as well as a survey conducted among accountants, reveals...

This paper uses a yearly dataset of plant-level investment in Colombian firms during the period 1997 to 2007 to assess the impact of a tax incentive for firms that invest in fixed assets implemented in 2004. A positive and statistically significant correlation is found between the boom observed...