Standard models of fiscal federalism suggest many benefits of decentralization in developing economies, and there has been a recent push toward decentralization around the world. However, developing countries presently still have less decentralization, particularly on the revenue side, than both...

In this paper, I estimate the demand for housing in Bogotá, modeling electricity consumption explicitly to take into account the crossed subsidies included in Colombian utility rates. I use household level data on housing prices, observable dwelling attributes, and demographic variables to...

The European social and welfare models are questioned in the context of the internationalization of the economy. The situation is quite different in the US where the combination of a rapid economic growth, full employment and a usually less developed welfare state seem to alleviate economic and...

This paper provides a short history of family allowances and documents the fact that Keynes supported family allowances as early as the 1920s, continuing through the 1930s and early 1940s. Keynes saw this policy as a way to help households raise their children and also as a way to increase...

Brazil has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty and inequality. This reduction is explained by strong growth but also by effective social policies. Besides growth, public services and cash transfers have played the biggest role, the latter notably through the successful “Bolsa...

By the end of 1999 HIV/AIDS was present in at least 200 countries and approximately 34.3 million people were living with the disease, 5.3 million of whom had been infected in that year alone (WHO 2000). Approximately 21.8 million persons had died from AIDS by 2000 and countries where life...

Benefit incidence analysis is an extremely popular tool to assess the distribution of benefits from government expenditure in developing countries, particularly in the social sectors. The analysis describes the welfare impact of public spending on groups of people or households, typically along...

This paper shows that rural electrification is associated with big changes in the time use of men and women in Nicaragua, even in the absence of labor-saving appliances. Electricity is shown to increase the propensity of rural Nicaraguan women to work out- side the home by about 23%, but to have...

The European social and welfare models are questioned in the context of the internationalization of the economy. The situation is quite different in the US where the combination of a rapid economic growth, full employment and a usually less developed welfare state seem to alleviate economic and...