This paper presents findings from the Regional Project on Child Development Indicators, PRIDI for its acronym in Spanish. PRIDI created a new tool, the Engle Scale, for evaluating development in children aged 24 to 59 months in four domains: cognition, language and communication, socio-emotional...

In the absence of comparable macroeconomic indicators for most of the Latin American economies before the 1930s, the apparent consumption of energy is used in this paper as a proxy of the degree of modernisation of Latin America and the Caribbean. This paper presents an estimate of the apparent...

Inadequate infrastructure has been widely viewed as a principal barrier to growth and development in Latin America and the Caribbean. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of infrastructure in the region and highlights key areas in which infrastructure networks can be enhanced. The public...

This study examines the Casselian hypothesis that the removal of government restrictions on international trade tends to lead to purchasing power parity even if other barriers to trade continue to exist. Twenty pairs of countries within the Mercosur and the Andean trade agreements are tested for...

Railways were one of the main engines of the Latin American trade boom before 1914. Railway construction often required financial support from local governments, which depended on their fiscal capacity. But since the main government revenues were trade-related, this generated a two-way feedback...

This paper compares trade interactions between six selected ASEAN economies with Latin America with that of China, a forerunner in engagement with Latin America. Trade between China and Latin America suggest that complementary comparative advantages are developing along the lines of...

This paper contains an empirical analysis on the determinants of trade flows in South America through the estimation of an augmented Gravity Model. Using data for countries belonging to the MERCOSUR and the Andean Community (CAN) this research attempts to test the hypotheses of the augmented...

Carbon taxes are advocated as efficient fiscal and environmental policies, but they have proven difficult to implement. One reason is that carbon taxes can aggravate poverty by increasing prices of basic goods and services such as food, heating, and commuting. Meanwhile, cash transfer programs...

Energy subsidies have been criticized due to their economic inefficiency and promotion of wasteful usage of energy and associated carbon emissions. Conversely, environmental taxes are advocated as efficient policy instruments. Nonetheless, removing subsidies and taxing energy can be politically...

Integrated beach management is an application of the integrated coastal management framework in a local scale. However, not all beaches must be managed in the same way. Thus, the classification of beaches becomes a key tool for management. On the other hand, integrated tools for beach management...