This paper assesses the effects of different health conditions on happiness. Based on a large data set for Latin America, the effects of different conditions are examined across age, gender, and income cohorts. Anxiety and pain have stronger effects than physical problems, likely because people...

This paper uses newly available data to describe the distribution of crime victimization and other criminal activities (including drug trafficking and corruption) around the world. The paper then documents a negative (positive) correlation between measures of criminal activity and happiness and...

This paper analyzes gender earnings gaps in Barbados and Jamaica, using a matching comparisons approach. In both countries, as in most of the Caribbean region, females’ educational achievement is higher than that of males. Nonetheless, males’ earnings surpass those of their female peers....

This paper documents the income distribution changes experienced by Argentina during the last decades. Inequality substantially increased, and despite economic growth during some periods, poverty also went significantly up. Two types of episodes have shaped Argentina's income distribution: deep...

Por diversas razones y canales de transmisión, el stock y la calidad de la infraestructura de un país es un indicador fundamental de su nivel de desarrollo y del bienestar general que ofrece a sus habitantes. El presente documento calcula las brechas de infraestructura para la subregión...

This paper follows an income-based, time-dependence approach to measure social mobility in Uruguay between 1982 and 2010. The paper finds that social mobility in Uruguay is considerable and reports evidence suggesting that this mobility is greater within cohorts of groups, such as those defined...

This paper surveys gender wage gaps in Colombia from 1994 to 2006, using matching comparisons to examine the extent to which individuals with similar human capital characteristics earn different wages. Three sub-periods are considered: 1994-1998; 2000- 2001; and 2002- 2006. The gaps dropped from the...

Applying the methodology developed in Ñopo (2004), this paper analyzes the evolution of the gender wage gap in Peru from 1986 to 2000. This methodology has two advantages. First, it recognizes that the supports of observable characteristics distributions differ substantially. Second, it...