We report that on any given day the number of inmates released from incarceration significantly affects the number of offenses committed this day, and we name this as first-day recidivism. Our estimates of this novel approach to study early recidivism are robust to a variety of alternative model...

In this paper I provide an estimate of labor productivity growth for the electricity distribution sector in Latin America, in the period 1994 to 2001. I report an annual rate of labor productivity change of about 6%. A comparison of the changes in prices and labor productivity reveals that, in...

I explore the causes of the existence of political dynasties in democratic societies. In particular, I investigate the causal relationship between tenure length and posterior dynastic success. Since tenure length is potentially endogenous in a model of political dynasties, I exploit a natural...

We propose a complementary explanation for the evolution of the college gender gap that emphasizes the raising opportunity cost of pursuing a college degree for men, due to the increase in the rewards to becoming a superstar in men-dominated occupations, like professional sports. We support our...

We evaluate the effects of the duration of legislative terms on the performance of legislators. We exploit a natural experiment in the Argentine House of Representatives where term lengths were assigned randomly. Results for various objective measures of legislative output show that longer terms...

This book provides a detailed microeconomic analysis of the impact of various privatizations in different countries in the region. Its central message is that in many cases, contrary to popular belief, society as a whole and in particular the poor have benefited from privatization. The book...

This report contains an evaluation of the Scientific and Technological Research Projects (PICT) funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Fund (FONCYT). FONCYT is managed by the National Agency of Scientific and Technological Promotion (ANPCYT), an organization that is part of the...

This paper uses data from the Argentine House of Representatives to study the relationship between legislative effort and political success, as measured by reelection, becoming a leader of the House, and moving to higher political positions. It is found that more effort is associated with a...

This work contains an evaluation of the Non-Reimbursable Funds (ANR) program of the Argentinean Technological Fund (FONTAR), which is managed by a federal government agency. FONTAR's objective is to fund projects presented by private firms that aim at improving their competitive performance...