18 governments from Latin America and the Caribbean give out regular monthly cash transfers to almost 130 million poor. These transfers which are known as Conditional Cash Transfers or CCTs and which vary greatly in terms of objectives and coverage, try to alleviate poverty in the short term and develop human capital in the long run. These programs typically focus on children’s … [Read more...] about 8 lessons from giving cash to the poor
Deforestation and conflict in Colombia
From the abstract and conclusions of this paper on civil conflict and deforestation in Colombia: Despite a growing body of literature on how environmental degradation can fuel civil war, the reverse effect, namely that of conflict on environmental outcomes, is relatively understudied. [....] We study this relationship in the case of Colombia. [....] Our results are … [Read more...] about Deforestation and conflict in Colombia
Laptops, children and Darth Vader
[vsw id="R55e-uHQna0" source="youtube" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"] Remember the 2011 Superbowl “Darth Vader Kid ad where a young boy attempts to use The Force to start a washer and wake up the dog? The Force only works on a Volkswagen Passat, after his father - hiding behind the kitchen window -uses the car’s remote to start it. We are fascinated that a little … [Read more...] about Laptops, children and Darth Vader
Corruption and growth, revisited
Some years ago, there was a tsunami in the economics literature on the relationship between economic growth and corruption. When it became clear that correlation is not causation, and that perception is not necessarily reality, the wave dwindled, although a corruption-index industry did thrive, (for a while). A recent paper retakes this issue from a more rigorous … [Read more...] about Corruption and growth, revisited
Diversity: 5 stories
As we celebrate the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, let´s not forget that one in five persons in Latin America feels discriminated against. Why? To answer this question, the IDB convened journalists, analysts and researchers. This week summaries of five selected responses will be posted in the IDB’s Gender and Diversity blog (only in … [Read more...] about Diversity: 5 stories