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
Colombia
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
Lending and Green Financing for Small Businesses in Colombia
By José Juan Gomes, Álvaro Concha, María Netto Nearly all of the estimated 1.6 million businesses in Colombia are micro, small, or medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Across the board, if you ask owners of these firms what the biggest challenge is to grow their businesses, the answer is almost unanimous: access to credit. Growth of MSMEs is critical to the Colombian economy … [Read more...] about Lending and Green Financing for Small Businesses in Colombia
Vacations
A year ago I explained 5 reasons why you should take a long vacation. Here is one very big one why your kids should not. Recently, Matthew Yglesias wrote on why vacations are evil. Much of his piece was based on a RAND literature review on the impact of vacations on children. Summer learning loss is approximately one month of instruction and this loss is particularly … [Read more...] about Vacations
Don’t make war, make elections
by Leopoldo Fergusson* and Juan F. Vargas** Democracy and conflict: a hard question Civil conflict is one of the major threats to long-run economic development, and causes enormous human suffering. However, we still do not have a clear understanding of the factors that exacerbate or help mitigate the risk of conflict and, in particular, about the role of democracy in … [Read more...] about Don’t make war, make elections