The causes of informality are many and range from imperfections in existing legislation and segmentation of the labor markets to macroeconomic adjustment programs and globalization. Some see in informality a mechanism for escaping unemployment, while for others it generates a spirit of entrepreneurship. The study has two objectives: i) To evaluate the degree of poverty and lack of social protection of informal workers in three of the region¿s countries: Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

This document is a summary of the study entitled, Comparative Analysis of Labor Relations in the Latin American Civil Service: Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru. The report includes the theoretical framework, the results of the study, and contains conclusions for consideration for a "labor relations development index." This document was commissioned by the Public Management and Transparency Network of the Regional Policy Dialogue for the 2nd Hemispheric Meeting celebrated on April 4th and 5th, 2002.

The mission of Pro Mujer Perú is to support women through loans and training programs that will contribute to their comprehensive development. The majority of these women are self-employed peddlers whose business produces an income for their families. This presentation gives an overview of the program, describes the loan process itself, and concludes with future challenges for the organization. This document was presented in the Poverty Reduction and Social Protection Network of the Regional Policy Dialogue at the 4th Hemispheric Meeting celebrated on November 11th and 12th, 2002.

This presentation discusses universal food subsidies and cash transfers as a tool to reduce poverty in the communities of Uzbekistan and Mexico. In addition, the relation between public works programs and program wage, minimum wage, and market wage are discussed with specific examples from Africa, Chile, and India. It was presented in the Poverty Reduction and Social Protection Network of the Regional Policy Dialogue at the Preparatory Meeting celebrated on October 19th and 20th, 2000 in Washington, D.C

Private providers have become an important source of health care in Latin America, yet there is still little documentation on them, especially regarding their role as providers of preventive and public health interventions. This paper uses Demographic and Health Surveys from various Latin American countries to compare the effectiveness of the private and public sectors in providing prenatal care. Although the number of prenatal visits is higher in the private sector, this is not accompanied by better delivery outcomes.

This document analyzes differences in the academic achievement of Latin American students based on the socioeconomic status of their families. Using the database from the Second Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (SERCE) conducted in 2006, a significant positive relationship was confirmed between the socioeconomic status of students and SERCE results, both region-wide and for each participating country.

This paper presents information about a theoretical model that provides different interpretations for the correlation between
family wealth and tertiary education enrollment; the empirical model; a description of data sources and the main
variables used in the analysis.

Presents information about opportunity cost of attendance to school, touching on issues of the proper dimensioning of cash subsidies, the adequacy of the conditionality and operational issues associated with conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs. It then analyzes the challenge of increasing school enrollment in urban areas using a dynamic model that accounts for labor opportunities of young people in these areas.

A working paper summarizing the experiences of conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America, focusing on their challenges and options to improve them.