Accessing credit is often a challenge for small and medium businesses. Lack of credit is an even greater problem for rural producers in developing countries, where it represents a critical roadblock to growth and economic opportunities. In a new study, we look at the effects of increasing access to credit through a loan program for small and medium-sized agricultural … [Read more...] about Liquidity or Capital? How Access to Credit Helps Rural Producers in Mexico
The Pandemic Is Increasing Inequality in Latin America
Inequality in Latin America has increased during the pandemic. That is our conclusion in a forthcoming study in which we noted that 2020 saw a reverse in the trend toward poverty reduction and greater equality that started 20 years ago. The study is based on data generated through employment and household surveys conducted over the past three decades. For 2020, information … [Read more...] about The Pandemic Is Increasing Inequality in Latin America
A crisis like no other: Why informal work did not spike under COVID-19
Before Peru was struck by COVID-19, Diana Quispe* was a part-time hairdresser based in the outskirts of Lima, who served customers in their homes in one of the city’s wealthier districts. She was an informal sector worker, like almost 80% of workers in Peru and over 50% across Latin America, with no health insurance or paid sick leave. But when the government announced … [Read more...] about A crisis like no other: Why informal work did not spike under COVID-19
Could access to electricity contribute to happiness in the interior of Suriname?
An electrification project in the interior of Suriname—known as the Hinterland—is leading researchers to believe that electricity could be one of the keys to happiness. The statement is certainly a bold one but is not new. A recent study of the impact of an IDB-backed project to connect five villages in the country’s rural interior to an electrical grid suggests that locals … [Read more...] about Could access to electricity contribute to happiness in the interior of Suriname?
COVID-19: The Response of the IDB Group in Central America and the Dominican Republic in 2020
The year 2020 was unprecedented throughout the world, and Central America and the Dominican Republic were no exceptions. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as those of Hurricanes Eta and Iota in some countries, caused the largest economic contraction in the region in recent history, surpassing even the effects of the 2009 global financial crisis. In the wake of the … [Read more...] about COVID-19: The Response of the IDB Group in Central America and the Dominican Republic in 2020