This paper reports the results of an experiment with secondary school students designed to improve their ability to reason, argument, and communicate using mathematics. These goals are at the core of many educational reforms. A structured pedagogical intervention was created that fostered a more...

Total factor productivity (TFP) in Latin America has not increased since the mid- 1970s, and in many countries it has declined. Moreover, resource misallocation can lower aggregate TFP. This paper presents evidence based on firm-level data from 10 Latin American countries to quantify the...

This paper uses 113 household surveys from 18 Latin American countries to document patterns in secondary school graduation rates over the period 1990-2010. It is found that enrollment and graduation rates increased dramatically during that period, while dropout rates decreased. Two explanations...

The laws that regulate relations between firms and workers in Mexico distinguish sharply between salaried and non-salaried workers, and they are at the root of the existence of informality. This paper provides a clear definition of informality, distinguishing it from illegality. Using Mexico's...

This book provides a detailed microeconomic analysis of the impact of various privatizations in different countries in the region. Its central message is that in many cases, contrary to popular belief, society as a whole and in particular the poor have benefited from privatization. The book...

'Privatization in Latin America' evaluates the empirical evidence on privatization in a region that has witnessed an extensive decline in the state's share of production over the past 20 years. The book is a compilation of recent studies that provide a comprehensive analysis of the record of and...

En este documento se exploran, en un contexto experimental, el impacto de dos intervenciones dirigidas a incentivar la formalización empresarial en Bogotá, Colombia, y el impacto de la formalización sobre varias dimensiones de desempeño de los negocios. El diseño experimental de la...

This paper compares the optimal dynamic choices between policies of mitigation and adaptation for three economies: Brazil, Chile and the United States. The focus is on the optimal role of mitigation and adaptation for "environmentally small economies", i. e. , economies that are witnessing an...

This paper examines the effects of the expansion of the water network in urban shantytowns in Argentina. The authors find large reductions in the presence, frequency, and severity of diarrhea episodes among children in the households reached by network expansions relative to the control group....

This paper examines the short and long-run average causal impact of catastrophic natural disasters on economic growth by combining information from comparative case studies. The counterfactual of the cases studied is assessed by constructing synthetic control groups, taking advantage of the fact...