By Annette Bettina Killmer In Sete Barras, Brazil, the community, marketing and infrastructure came together in an ecotourism development program to protect Brazil's Atlantic Forest by increasing the numbers of visits to six state parks and providing training to area residents. … [Read more...] about Ecotourism: Protecting Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
Brazil
How important is clean water for education?
Much of the education economics literature focuses on how combinations of inputs, incentives and institutional structures result in better education results, in human capital accumulation and, in the longer term, in higher wages and economic growth. In this literature, less attention has been given to external factors, such as the availability of safe drinking water, personal … [Read more...] about How important is clean water for education?
More power to Dams?
Large infrastructure projects have a bad rap. Many deservedly so. But new evidence is emerging that large scale dam projects in China are Pareto improving, and large scale infrastructure investments in Brazil had large positive effects on development. Dam projects have been controversial for the benefits on power generation, flood control and irrigation, and … [Read more...] about More power to Dams?
Accountability and corruption
For a while I have been meaning to write a post on the impact of political institutions on corruption based on an interesting paper on municipal elections in Brazil. The paper shows that the reelection specter helps in disciplining corrupt politicians Mayors with reelection incentives misappropriate 27 percent fewer resources than mayors without reelection incentives. These … [Read more...] about Accountability and corruption
If it rains less, will more kids die?
Just as you can’t use real rain to make movies, it turns out it’s not much good as an instrumental variable either: … [Read more...] about If it rains less, will more kids die?