Some countries seem to be lagging behind in global accumulation of skills. As the ratio of skilled to unskilled labour is key for growth (e.g. endogenous growth theory), this situation suggests a gloomy future for developing countries. Is catching up with the developed world?s levels of skills...

Building upon an original and fruitful research line, a recent paper by Hidalgo and Hausmann (2009) proposed new indicators of product sophistication and economic complexity build solely upon international trade data, in their Method of Re?ections. The authors ?nd their indicators for economic...

The aim of this paper is to study empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis that discretionary fiscal policy is asymmetric over the business cycle in Uruguay. We estimate fiscal reaction functions covering annual data from 1970 through 2009, in which the dynamics of fiscal balance is due to...

We propose a model whereby systemic and non-systemic banks are exposed to liquidity shortfalls such that a lender of last resort policy is required. We analyze the optimal allocation of lender of last resort responsibilities and find that it is socially optimal to move responsibilities from the...

This paper analyzes the impact of prenatal care on low birth weight and pre-term births using panel data on births that took place between 1995 and 2008 in the largest public university hospital in Uruguay (Perinatal Information System, PAHO). The hospital provides free access to prenatal and...

This paper studies the joint dynamics of corruption and pollution in a model of evolutionary game theory, where firms face a given pollution standard and the government must check the compliance to this standard by means of public officials who can be honest or not. A novelty of our paper is...

How much redistribution does Uruguay accomplish through social spending and taxes? How progressive are revenue collection and social spending? A standard fiscal incidence analysis shows that Uruguay achieves a nontrivial reduction in inequality and poverty when all taxes and transfers are...

We analyze recent trends of the activity rates and retirement of Uruguayan old age workers. We find that in Uruguay, unlike in several developed countries and most Latin American countries, the activity rates of old-age men are not falling. On the contrary, in recent decades the activity rate of...

In this study we analyze data on happiness to find out the relationship between this issue and others aspects of life, based on the Latinobarómetro 2007 for Chile and Uruguay. The focus is put on self-reported health status as a key aspect in increasing happiness levels. Then, the probability...

Education, particularly higher education, generates both social benefits as private benefits, of which the individual appropriates. This paper attempts to determine the monetary benefits received by individuals who have completed higher education. For this porpous, it is consider the income of...