This paper analyzes the recent performance of Latin American labor markets. We find that unemployment rates are on the rise in most countries and sub-regions of Latin America. The rise in unemployment over the 1990s is not driven by a higher proportion of women, adults or urban workers in the...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) El aumento de la productividad de la mano de obra se entiende como un factor crítico del aumento del crecimiento económico y la reducción de los niveles de pobreza en América Latina. Se sigue señalando a los bajos niveles de preparación como el...

This paper studies the economic effects of legal amendments on different types of labor laws. It examines the effects of amendments to labor dispute laws and amendments to job security legislation. It also identifies the effects of legal amendments related to the most contentious regulation of...

Openness to international competition can lead to enhanced resource allocation in the end. While factor reallocation is essential if net benefits are to be derived from trade liberalization, the process generates costs both for transitioning workers and for employers undergoing personnel...

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) El desajuste financiero se está convirtiendo en algo corriente en América Latina. Los años 90 se caracterizaron por una gran inestabilidad en la magnitud y el costo de los flujos de capitales. La correlación de los vaivenes de los capitales entre...

This paper documents the high level of job security protection in Latin American labor markets and analyzes its impacts on employment. The authors show that job security policies have a substantial impact on the level and the distribution of employment in Latin America. These policies reduce...

(Available only in Spanish) In the last decade the direction of macroeconomic policies made an extraordinary about-face in Latin America, but labor legislation is virtually unchanged. The central purpose of this work is to show the size of this lag and to indicate that most countries require...

The formality status of a job is the most widely used indicator of job quality in developing countries. However, a number of studies argue that, at least for some workers, the informality status may be driven by choice rather than exclusion. This paper uses job satisfaction data from three...