With the recent expansion of extractive industries in Latin America, contestations with the affected communities have increased in number and intensity. Therein, the indigenous right to prior consultation and to free, prior and informed consent has played a crucial role. Based on the empirical...

The high primary school enrolment rates in Latin America and the Caribbean mask poor performance in terms of the quality, relevance and cost-effectiveness of formal schooling in the region. What happens to the millions of children who repeat school years, underperform in their first years of...

We employ World Bank Enterprise Survey data collected in 2006–2010 for 21,852 firms from 31 Latin American and Caribbean countries to investigate determinants of the adoption of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification, the relation between ISO certification and firm...

Human rights declarations are instruments used to introduce universal standards of ethics. The UN’s Protect, Respect, and Remedy Framework (Ruggie, Protect, respect, and remedy: A Framework for business and human rights. UN Doc A/HRC/8/5, <CitationRef CitationID="CR57">2008</CitationRef>; Guiding principles on business and human rights:...</citationref>

Recent debate has focused on the use of intellectual property regimes for the protection of indigenous resources. Both domesticated crops and useful wild plants are shaped by indigenous knowledge and by their uses within indigenous cultures. This implies that the preservation of cultural systems...

The present publication traces the history of the Bank's lending for urban development and discusses its approaches to current urban issues. It is intended for specialists and individuals interested in getting acquainted with the evolution of the Bank portfolio.

"Forest Resource Policy in Latin America" gathers the thinking of a score of experts on sustainable use and management of forests, including incentives for investment. The authors tackle the thorny social issues of property rights, deforestation, and forest management and ownership by indigenous...