Over the last decade Ecuador has experienced a strong increase in financial transfers from migrated workers, amounting to 6.4 percent of GDP and 31.5 percent of total exports of goods and services in 2005. This paper investigates how remittances via trans-national networks affect human capital...

In 2001-02, Argentina experienced a wrenching economic crisis. Plan Jefes, implemented in May 2002, was Argentina's institutional response to the increase in unemployment and poverty triggered by the crisis. The program provided a social safety net and appears to have successfully protected some...

In 2001-02, Argentina experienced a wrenching economic crisis. Plan Jefes, implemented in May 2002, was Argentina's institutional response to the increase in unemployment and poverty triggered by the crisis. The program provided a social safety net and appears to have successfully protected some...

Due to lack of well-developed insurance, credit and labor markets, rural families in Ethiopia are exposed to a range of covariate and idiosyncratic risks. In 2005, to deal with the consequences of covariate risks, the government implemented the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) - an active...

This paper studies the impact of access to electricity via solar-powered home systems (SHSs) in rural communities in Peru. Applying propensity score matching at the community as well as at the household level, the authors find that households with SHSs spend less on traditional sources of...

This paper provides findings of a small-scale, innovative labor training program that uses expressive arts and theatre as a pedagogical tool. The corresponding life skills training component is combined with a technical component teaching vocational skills. To our knowledge, this is the first...

Using a randomized trial, we look at employment and earnings of a youth training program in Brazil that uses arts and theater-based pedagogic tools. The evidence we present shows youth benefit both in the short- and medium-term. The impacts are economically large, compared to those typically...

This paper provides findings of a small-scale, innovative labor training program that uses expressive arts and theatre as a pedagogical tool. The corresponding life skills training component is combined with a technical component teaching vocational skills. To our knowledge, this is the first...

This paper uses unique experimental data from a youth training program in the Favelas, Brazil, to examine whether youth training programs can prevent treatment recipients from engaging in risk behavior-i.e., cigarettes, alcohol, and hard drug utilization, as well as witnessing or being a victim...

This paper evaluates the short-term impacts of a development project that aims to increase mango yields, sales of mango products, and the income of small mango farmers in rural Haiti. Various matching methods, in combination with difference-in-difference (DID), are used to deal with the...