There is broad consensus that the level and distribution of skills in a country play a key role in determining growth and inequality. Unfortunately, there is clear evidence pointing to deficient and unequal accumulation of skills in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). What do we know about the payoffs of investing in skills development? Do these investments help to improve … [Read more...] about Call for Proposals: Private Spending on Skills Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
Hitting Kids: How Much Does It Hurt?
By: Norbert Schady During the recent riots in Baltimore, MD, Toya Graham, an irate mother of a would-be protester, became an instant celebrity when she was caught on tape roughing up her son. She appeared on the evening news slapping his head repeatedly and pushing him down the street away from the violence that was engulfing the city. Given the situation, Ms. Graham’s … [Read more...] about Hitting Kids: How Much Does It Hurt?
Let There Be (More) Light: The Case for Impact Evaluations
Can impact evaluations make a difference? Can they be something more than looking for the keys where the light is instead of where the keys were actually lost? The answer is an unequivocal yes, but for reasons other than the ones usually put forth. The argument I make in this note is that impact evaluations are important not only because of their direct effect in showing which … [Read more...] about Let There Be (More) Light: The Case for Impact Evaluations
2015: A Year to Evaluate
Evidence for the World We Want “Marty McFly: Hey, Doc! Where you goin' now? Back to the future? Doc: Nope. Already been there.” “The future has arrived,” and not in a figurative way; we are living in it, literally, at least for Dr. Emmet and Marty McFly from the sci-fi classic trilogy “Back to the Future.” A few may remember that the last “future” date in this late 80s … [Read more...] about 2015: A Year to Evaluate
Debt and Money: Tales from Greece, Argentina and Puerto Rico and the Danger of Delay
An Irish joke runs that a tourist, lost in the countryside, asks a local the way to Dublin. The Irishman ponders the question carefully and looks at the puzzled foreigner, and after a good while responds, “It’s complicated, I wouldn’t start from here.” And so it is with most sovereign debt restructurings, but does it always have to be this way? Delay risks dire consequences; … [Read more...] about Debt and Money: Tales from Greece, Argentina and Puerto Rico and the Danger of Delay