Inequality and poverty fell sharply in many Latin American countries during a decade in which voters in ten countries chose left-leaning leaders. Are these developments related? Using data for 18 Latin American countries, this paper presents econometric evidence that social democratic regimes in...

Maintaining a weak real exchange rate is a widely recommended growth strategy, in part because of the success of Asian exporters, most recently China. Simulations of a simple two-sector open economy growth model based on Matsuyama (1992) suggest that a weaker real exchange rate can lead to a...

This paper examines the relationship between minimum wages and poverty in developing countries. We regress changes in poverty indicators for a group of twenty-two developing countries on minimum wage changes, changes in per capita income, changes in average real wages, human capital investment,...

Poverty rates are now widely available, but are they reliable? Wide variations in estimated poverty rates for the same poverty line, year and country reflect an underlying reality: there is no widely accepted procedure for estimating national poverty rates. This paper proposes a simple, ex post...

Chronic inflation and the importance of the exchange rate as a nominal anchor for the domestic price level have led some Latin American countries to consider returning to a fixed dollar exchange rate. John Welch and Darryl McLeod examine the costs and benefits of real exchange rate movements and...

This paper examines the relationship between minimum wages and poverty in developing countries. We regress changes in poverty indicators for a group of developing countries on minimum wage changes, changes in public spending, human capital investment and other variables associated with changes...