Research

Public Administration and Institutions

Most Latin American countries have democratic constitutions, functioning bureaucracies and professional judiciaries. However, operation is patchy. Some institutions in some countries are at least as good as those in wealthier states; others are plagued by corruption and waste.

Assessment Paper by Susan Rose-Ackerman

Perspective Paper by Ugo Panizza

Education

Many economists claim that better education leads to greater economic growth, as well as higher incomes for individuals, better health and lower fertility rates. This paper focuses on three proposals to improve education in Latin America and the Carribean.

Assessment Paper by Amy Damon and Paul Glewwe

Perspective Paper by Miguel Urquiola

Employment/Social Security

The challenge for Latin America is to seize the benefits of globalization while instituting policies which improve the functional role of the labor market and encourage the development of skills and employment opportunities.

Assessment Paper by Alejandra Cox Edwards

Perspective Paper by Adriana Kugler

Environment

The Inter-American Development Bank has reported that the environment is one of the challenges facing Latin America, with deforestation and loss of biodiversity the two areas of greatest concern.

Assessment Paper by Roger A. Sedjo

Perspective Paper by Randall Kramer

Democracy

Today, the countries of Latin America confront numerous challenges to the quality of their democracies. This paper looks at political party and party institutionalization and women's legislative representation.

Assessment Paper by Professor Mark P. Jones

Violence and Crime

Crime and violence is a major concern in Latin America. The main issue is the high incidence of crime, followed by drug trafficking, proliferation of violent youth gangs, money laundering and domestic violence.

Assessment Paper by Mark A Cohen and Mauricio Rubio

Perspective Paper by Andrew Morrison

Fiscal Problems

Fiscal reforms and higher growth have improved the situation in Latin America significantly in recent years, but is is not clear that a structural change has yet occurred.

Assessment Paper by Miguel Braun

Perspective Paper by Max A. Alier and Benedict Clements

Health

An important issue in Latin America, beyond specific diseases, is uneven access to quality healthcare.This paper takes the disease-specific challenges as given and looks at how overall health systems can be improved to deliver specific interventions more effectively.

Assessment Paper by Philip Musgrove

Perspective Paper by William Savedoff

Infrastructure

Access to basic infrastructure services – roads, ports, electricity, water and sanitation – still remains a key challenge in the fight against poverty and the search for sustainable growth in the region.

Assessment Paper by Julio A. Gonzalez, Jose Luis Guasch and Tomas Serebrisky

Perspective Paper by Ronald Fische

Poverty/Inequality

With about one in five people in Latin America and the Caribbean classified as poor by international definitions, poverty remains at the top of the regional policy agenda. Economic growth is one way to reduce absolute poverty, and indeed seems a prerequisite for any significant improvement.

Assessment Paper by Sebastian Galiani

Perspective Paper by Stephen Younger