Fifteen years ago, researchers were restricted to using surveys, censuses and basic administrative data when they examined cities and local policies. But those methods have real limitations. Surveys can be prohibitively expensive. Censuses may be out of date and administrative data often fail to represent the population as a whole. Today, we live in a radically different … [Read more...] about Big Data: New Opportunities and Challenges for Urban Research
Microeconomics and Competitiveness
Strengthening Climate Goals Will End Up Saving Money for Latin America and the Caribbean
By Adrien Vogt-Schilb and Matthew Binsted What if I told you that making greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets more stringent would be cheaper than keeping current ones? That might seem to defy logic. But it makes sense when you consider the financial costs of continuing to invest in technologies that take us only part way to our ultimate emissions-reduction goals, only … [Read more...] about Strengthening Climate Goals Will End Up Saving Money for Latin America and the Caribbean
Why Well-Governed, Socially Conscious Companies Thrive
With Colin Mayer, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford How can we deal with the fact that Latin America is the most unequal region of the world? How can we manage lackluster economic growth? And how can we transform our economies and make poverty and exclusion a thing of the past? To answer some of those questions, Colin Mayer, the Peter Moores Professor of … [Read more...] about Why Well-Governed, Socially Conscious Companies Thrive
When Lower Barriers to Firm Creation Translate Into More Resilient Economies
By Alan Finkelstein Shapiro and Victoria Nuguer Registering a business in Latin America is not for the faint of heart. Multiple procedures -- ranging from establishing by-laws and a legal structure to registering the company with authorities -- have to be carried out. Labyrinthine bureaucracies have to be negotiated. Lawyers and accountants are often hired to avoid … [Read more...] about When Lower Barriers to Firm Creation Translate Into More Resilient Economies
Latin America Confronts Obesity
It took nearly ten years, a full-blown epidemic and two physicians in the top ranks of government. But after ferocious resistance from the food industry, Chile has put into effect a law that tackles the problem of obesity head-on and is considered by nutrition experts to be among the most, if not the most, stringent law in the world. The law, which went into effect in 2016 … [Read more...] about Latin America Confronts Obesity