There are few reliable estimates of the effects of violence on economic outcomes. This study exploits the manifold increase in homicides in 2008-2011 in Mexico resulting from its war on organized drug traffickers to estimate the effect of drug- related homicides on housing prices. Using an...

Over the last decade, there has been growing awareness regarding the importance of transparent and effective courts to achieve economic development. However, many Latin American countries find that their judicial system have important deficiencies in terms of access and efficiency. This paper...

During the 1990s Peru greatly expanded access to formal judicial services in underserved districts through the construction and staffing of justice modules—physical structures which housed courts, prosecutors and public defenders. The intervention was designed to improve judicial coverage for...

This paper considers a conditional cash transfer program targeting poor households in small rural villages and studies the effects of the geographic proximity between villages on individual enrollment decisions. Exploiting variations in the treatment status across contiguous villages generated...

This paper uses matched social security and program micro data from the Uruguayan Plan de Atención Nacional a la Emergencia Social to investigate the effect of social assistance on formal labor market outcomes. One specific feature of this program is that households could gain and retain...

The purpose of this presentation is to propose a definition of the concept of social cohesion and an approach to measuring it. We proceed in two parts: Part I: Cumulative definition and measurement; Part II: Exploration and measurement of key contributing dimensions: Solidarity, social...

Intended as a contribution to the discussion of the relevance of social capital and social cohesion to Latin American development, this paper treats the two as assets for development and the creation of welfare. The paper defines the concepts, including their uses and limitations, and analyzes...

The Bank has prepared a new set of strategies, presented in this volume, for the two overarching objectives established (Sustainable Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction and Promotion of Social Equity) and for each of the four priority areas highlighted in the Institutional Strategy...

"An Unequal Democracy?: Seeing Latin America through European Eyes" is the result of a conference organized by the International Institute for Governance of Catalonia in November 2003, with support from the government of Catalonia and the Special Office in Europe of the IDB. At the conference, a...

This book looks at the potential and the limits of policies to promote entrepreneurship as an important vehicle for social mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as steps to remove the constrains that hamper entrepreneurship. This volume assesses the relevant literature on...