Although the region remains highly centralized, the tendency toward decentralization is quite strong. Not only is a larger portion of the general government budget executed from the subnational government level, the autonomy that these governments have in deciding how much to spend and what to...

Este volumen contiene los anales de un seminario sobre modernización de las finanzas municipales. En el seminario se discutieron e intercambiaron experiencias sobre las políticas que los gobiernos centrales pueden adoptar para que la descentralización proporcione los beneficios que se le...

The role of regional integration agreements (RIAs) as a determinant of the location of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become an increasingly relevant issue for emerging economies. While the concerns regarding the impact of RIAs on FDI for countries in Latin America may be related to a...

In this paper, the authors discuss in detail a number of channels through which RIA could affect the location of FDI. In addition to clarifying the main effects at play, this conceptual discussion should help lay down a roadmap for the empirical exercises that follow. First, a brief stylized...

The role of regional integration agreements as a determinant of the location of FDI has become an increasingly relevant issue for emerging economies. In Latin America, the largest effects are likely to be associated with the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). In this regard, there are a...

This presentation is an input to a regional discussion on finding practical methods by which governments in Latin America and the Caribbean might improve their policymaking and improve the analytical framework within which questions about the policy process are asked. It provides a brief summary...

Durante las últimas décadas, hemos evidenciado un incremento en el número y la profundidad de los acuerdos de integración regionales (AIR) alrededor del mundo. La proliferación de acuerdos comerciales ha sido considerablemente amplia. La antigua Comunidad Económica Europea evolucionó...

This paper discusses the need for a Bank subnational development strategy. The subnational development strategy provides the Bank with a comprehensive framework to support borrowing member countries in their efforts to promote socioeconomic development through the devolution of responsibilities...

Financial turmoil is becoming a fact of life in Latin America. The 1990s have been characterized by enormous volatility in the magnitude and cost of capital flows. The correlation of capital swings across disparate countries suggests that the quality of emerging market policies in addition to...

In this paper, we use a panel approach to study population growth in major cities around the world. We find that major cities grow faster in relatively backward economies and in more volatile, faster-growing economies. We also find that the effects of trade policy on the growth of major cities...