To date, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has considered the impact of its projects on community health and safety on an ad hoc basis. Although the IDB's 2006 Environmental and Safeguards Compliance Policy (OP-703) requires that project teams consider health and safety issues in the...

The purpose of this paper is to describe the performance of the Venezuelan labor market in the period between 1982 and 1995, and to analyze its impact on the evolution of poverty. This period analyzed is a convulsed one, one within Venezuela that suffered from the consequences of both changes in...

The world has been increasingly interconnected both economically and politically ever since the end of the World War II. In addition to the increase in the movement of goods (international trade) and the movement of money (foreign investment), we have observed increased amount of movement of...

This paper studies the degree to which innovation by Costa Rican manufacturing firms creates or displaces employment, how different innovation strategies affect employment, and how these effects vary by firm size and type of employment demand characteristics (skills and gender). In particular...

This paper presents the evaluation of the Enterprise Restructuring Support Program in Argentina. The aim of the program was to increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises by cofinancing technical assistance that can be classified as either support for process innovation or...

This paper highlights the importance of youth entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the challenges and opportunities faced by young entrepreneurs. The authors analyze the differences between youth who become entrepreneurs by necessity or by opportunity, and also review...

This study examines the use of incentive mechanisms for employees in export and investment promotion agencies intended to improve their performance. It briefly describes these organizations and presents the contributions from economic theory that are useful to understand the agency problems that...

The informal economy plays an important, yet often overlooked, role in economies throughout the world. Informal activities can provide a much needed source of income for a great number of people. At the same time, informality motivated by regulatory distortions, tax evasion, or in the pursuit of...

This paper describes Proyecto Joven, a project to train unemployed youth in Argentina and discusses several critical issues facing it. It should not be considered as an authoritative view on this project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank but rather as an attempt to elicit a dialogue...

This presentation discusses Civil Service Indices and gives an in-depth analysis. Countries included in the study are: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela. It was presented in the 3rd Hemispheric Meeting for...