Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the regions in the world with the greatest ethnic, racial and cultural diversity. This diversity is a major asset that holds the key to achieving lasting economic and political stability and constructing a fair, cohesive and democratic society. However,...

Se sabe que existen dos caminos fundamentales para mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza en un sistema escolar. Uno es invertir en mejorar las calificaciones de los docentes utilizando para ello programas más sólidos de formación inicial o de capacitación en servicio. El otro es modificar los...

This book examines poverty as a structural problem caused by the way economic systems operate. It poses a simple question: Why do poor people earn less? Case studies in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru find the poor caught in a vicious circle. They lack sufficient access to...

The subject of labor unions in Latin America provokes a variety of diverse and strongly held views. While some see unions as a way to protect workers' rights and ensure an equitable distribution of income, others see unions as a drain of productivity or an intrusion of politics into the...

Peru has one of the highest informality rates in Latin America, with almost 60 percent of the urban labor force working at the margins of labor market legislation or in microenterprises that lack basic labor market standards (Marcouiller, Ruiz de Castilla, and Woodruff, 1997). This paper...

This paper analyzes the effects of several aspects of labor legislation that were modified through successive waves of reform since 1991. Firing costs diminished sharply through the progressive elimination of job security regulations, the introduction of temporary contracts and changes in the...

El enfoque de esta documento es analizar la problemática de la posesión y acceso a activos por parte de los pobres. Los activos privados, públicos y de organización son los principales determinantes del flujos de gastos e ingresos de las familias, y son por lo tanto cruciales para determinar...

Según los resultados de encuestas de opinión pública de Apoyo S.A., hacia 1991 la inflación, el terrorismo y el desempleo eran, en ese orden, los problemas más graves que afectaban a la población peruana. Hacia mediados de los noventa, resuelto el problema inflacionario, y atenuado...

Using panel data for Peru for the period 1994-2000, we find that when households receive two or more services jointly, the welfare increases of the household, as measured by changes in consumption, are larger than when services are provided separately. Such an increase appears to be more than...