In this paper we argue that a more legitimate and responsive state is an essential factor for a more adequate level of tax effort in developing countries. While at first glance giving such advice to poor countries seeking to increase their tax ratios may not seem more helpful than telling them...

Corporate Governance relates to mechanisms through which providers of resources to the firm get their share of resources in return. Adequate governance practices help develop capital markets and assist market forces in attaining efficient contracts. Convincing evidence exists that well developed...

This paper provides an overview of the role of institutional investors in financial markets and in particular their role in the governance of corporations. The paper presents the theoretical and empirical evidence regarding the consequences of institutional investor trading and ownership on...

This paper reviews the decline in income inequality that has taken place over 2002-2007 in most Latin American countries against the background of its steady increase over 1980-2002. The paper then analyzes the factors that could explain this trend reversal. It focuses in particular on favorable...

Despite the enormous potential of globalization in accelerating economic growth through greater integration into the world economy the impact of globalization on poverty reduction has been uneven. Asia has been the major beneficiary of globalization where high growth rates and its...

The main characteristic of the Latin American migration on the 20th century was the change of flow. Until the 1950s, Latin America received migrants from Europe and the Middle East. As a result of economic change, political instability, and economic crisis, Latin America started exporting...

For how long does cultural heritage persist? Do the culturally inherited values of immigrants dilute as generations pass? We answer these question by studying the relationship between revealed political behavior of immigrant families and the culture of the place where they migrated from, either...

The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of the cyclical inflation, on the cyclical components of different macroeconomic variables. The inflationary periods in Latin America have been associated to economic crises, characterized by important diminutions in the rate of economic...

The essay explains why and how Latin American societies, during the period of 1930 to 1980, accepted the different variants of populist regimes; why these political systems perpetuated for such a long time; what mechanisms were employed to manage internal order; why and how the destruction...