The labor force participation of women is lower than the labor force participation of men. This empirical regularity is particularly acute in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In terms of labor market productivity and growth potential, these lower participation rates constitute a reserve of untapped resources. Providing an estimate of the impact that increased female participation in the labor force has on labor market outcomes and GDP is therefore crucial but challenging. Two issues are of importance: sample selection and equilibrium effects.

The labor force participation of women is lower than the labor force participation of men. This empirical regularity is particularly acute in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In terms of labor market productivity and growth potential, these lower participation rates constitute a reserve of untapped resources. Providing an estimate of the impact that increased female participation in the labor force has on labor market outcomes and GDP is therefore crucial but challenging. Two issues are of importance: sample selection and equilibrium effects.

Conditional cash transfer programs have become a popular social protection tool in developing countries. They aim to reduce short-term poverty through cash transfers and long-term poverty through enhancing investments in human capital. While numerous evaluations of CCTs show positive short-term impacts, there is limited evidence on whether these benefits translate into sustained long-term gains.

While the relationship between business cycles and employment is a topic of continuing interest, it has received limited attention in the literature focusing on developing countries. This study adds to the literature as it analyzes the heterogeneous correlations of business cycles with employment, unemployment and participation rate by different age, education, gender and ethnic groups in a developing country setting.

In this interactive note, the third in the series "The future of Work in Latin America and the Caribbean," we combine traditional sources and new data sources to explore the impact that technological change has had on the evolution of occupations and skills demand in the region. In addition, we show the potential of a tool that works as a GPS of the labor market and that gives the opportunity for workers in Latin America and the Caribbean to detect the skills that will allow them to move from a declining occupation to an emerging one.

Understanding the causal association between skills and productivity is essential for designing effective training programs. This paper evaluates an intervention aimed at boosting leadership and communication skills among store managers and sales associates from a large Latin American retailer. The empirical analysis is carried out using longitudinal information gathered by the firm and through two skills surveys. The Identification exploits the experimental design in the context of a difference-in-difference strategy.

Digital transformation is here to stay, as evidenced by the growing consensus among the global community. The Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region has large deficiencies in quality and efficiency, two areas in which digital transformation of services has significant potential. While digital transformation is changing lives, digital tools are not, and never will be, “silver bullets” that improve quality, safety and efficiency on their own.

We test for racial differences in crime victimization between whites and Afro-descendants in the form of thefts, robberies, sexual and physical assaults and police aggressions in Brazil. We explore the presence of skin color tone bias in victimization by the police. Methods With a novel dataset produced by the Ministry of Justice of Brazil in 2012, we use 6 different logit regression models to estimate marginal effects.

We test for racial differences in crime victimization between whites and Afro-descendants in the form of thefts, robberies, sexual and physical assaults and police aggressions in Brazil. We explore the presence of skin color tone bias in victimization by the police. Methods With a novel dataset produced by the Ministry of Justice of Brazil in 2012, we use 6 different logit regression models to estimate marginal effects.

Summary "Pending Dependency", featured topic in the website “Panorama of Aging and Long-term Care”.