Crime, violence, and insecurity are among the most important social topics in contemporary Costa Rica. These three issues play a central role in the media, politics, and everyday life, and the impression has emerged that security has changed for the worse and that society is now threatened...

This paper examines the successes of ten 'high-achievers' - countries with social indicators far higher than might be expected given their national wealth. Their progress in such fields as education and health offers lessons for social policy elsewhere in the developing world. Based on...

National government-funded payments for environmental services (PES) programs often lack sustainable financing and fail to target payments to providers of important environmental services. In principle, these problems can be mitigated by supplementing government financing with contributions from...

The Costa Rican talk of crime is fundamentally based on the assumption that crime rates have increased significantly in recent years and that there is today a vast and alarming amount of crime. On the basis of this assumption, fear of crime, the call for the “iron fist,” and drastic law...

 The tobacco industry successfully blocked or displaced strong tobacco control legislation in Costa Rica for nearly 40 years using similar strategies used in the U.S. and the rest of the world, until the country successfully passed a strong tobacco control law in March 2012. During the 1970s...

La mise en oeuvre de la libéralisation prend des formes différentes suivant les filières agricoles en fonction de la capacité des organisations à influencer les politiques économiques. A partir de l'approche du changement institutionnel de North, l'étude de deux filières au Costa Rica,...

Au cours des vingt dernières années, l’évolution des politiques économiques au Nord comme au Sud a été marquée par la mise en place de processus de libéralisation. Selon les contextes institutionnels, la libéralisation peut prendre des formes très contrastées. Au Costa Rica, suite...

Au cours des vingt dernières années, l’évolution des politiques économiques au Nord comme au Sud a été marquée par la mise en place de processus de libéralisation. Selon les contextes institutionnels, la libéralisation peut prendre des formes très contrastées. Au Costa Rica, suite...

This paper examines the financial strength of central banks in Central America and the Dominican Republic (CADR). Some central banks are working off the effects of intervention in distressed financial institutions during the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Their net income has improved...