The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have shown interest in recent years in promoting private-sector participation in infrastructure projects. This trend has permitted budget consolidation, improved efficiency, and reduction of state participation in productive activities. The book...

'Privatization in Latin America' evaluates the empirical evidence on privatization in a region that has witnessed an extensive decline in the state's share of production over the past 20 years. The book is a compilation of recent studies that provide a comprehensive analysis of the record of and...

This report raises a number of fundamental questions about the multidimensional and interrelated nature of social exclusion and moves beyond the traditional emphasis on outcomes and groups to view exclusion as a process that results from societal traits that limit the functionings of the...

This book presents a set of studies on contemporary discrimination in Latin America that takes advantage of these new tools by focusing on social interactions that range from cooperation, group formation, and the impact of migration in poor families to specific markets such as housing and labor....

This paper estimates the effect of training quality on labor-market earnings using a Peruvian non-experimental training program, PROJOVEN, which targets disadvantaged youths aged 16 to 24 years. The identification of causal effects is possible because of two attractive features in the data....

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,...

Equality of opportunity is about leveling the playing field so that circumstances such as gender, ethnicity, place of birth, or family background do not influence a person's life chances. Success in life should depend on people's choices, effort and talents, not to their circumstances at birth....

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...