The awarding of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer hits close to home for several reasons. First, in bringing "an experimental approach to alleviating global poverty," as the Nobel committee said in its Oct. 14 announcement of the prize, these distinguished economists have changed the way we do research at the Research … [Read more...] about A Nobel Prize for Development: A Look From Inside the IDB
Promoting Competition to Boost Welfare Through Social Programs
Since the mid-1990s, governments in Latin America have used conditional cash transfers (CCTs) to reduce poverty, improve health, and boost school enrollment for tens of millions of people. But like any social program that increases income and hence demand, CCTs pose their own risks if they allow for goods and services to be purchased in a non-competitive environment. That is … [Read more...] about Promoting Competition to Boost Welfare Through Social Programs
When an Excess of Small Firms Hurts Productivity
Policymakers have long accepted the central role of innovation in spurring aggregate productivity and growth. They have looked at the arrival of new systems of organization and new technologies, from the steam engine to electricity and the internet, as catalysts to material progress in the modern age. But in doing so, they may have underestimated the importance of another … [Read more...] about When an Excess of Small Firms Hurts Productivity
Latin America, the Caribbean and PISA: The Long Road Ahead
Over the last 25 years, Latin American and Caribbean nations have bet heavily on education as a route to more equitable and prosperous societies. Today, the region spends on average 3 percentage points more of its GDP on education than in the early 1990s, with spending fast approaching levels in the developed world. Enrollment in primary school has become nearly universal and … [Read more...] about Latin America, the Caribbean and PISA: The Long Road Ahead
When Information on Higher Education Narrows the Skills Gap
Higher education in Latin America has achieved some impressive gains over the past quarter century. An elite system consisting of at most a few dozen traditional universities in each country has radically transformed to include hundreds of new professional institutes, technical and vocational schools. At the same time, enrollment has soared. Between 1992 and 2012, the … [Read more...] about When Information on Higher Education Narrows the Skills Gap