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In this occasion the IDB presents the latest edition of the IDB`s flagship publication, Development in the Americas (DIA): "Room for Development: Housing Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean" edited by César P. Bouillon. It takes an in-depth look at the opportunities countries have to improve urban housing markets and pave the way for solutions that involve the private sector. The executive summary is available in this brochure.Abstract: En esta ocasión el BID presenta la última edición de la publicación insignia del BID, Desarrollo en las Américas (DIA por sus siglas en inglés): "Un espacio para el desarrollo: Los mercados de la vivienda en América Latina y el Caribe" editado por César P. Bouillon. En ella se ofrece un análisis de fondo de las oportunidades que tienen los países para mejorar sus mercados inmobiliarios urbanos y facilitar la vía hacia soluciones que involucren al sector privado. En este folleto se le ofrece al lector el resumen ejecutivo de dicha publicación.

This executive summary describes the motivation behind this book, the methodologies used, and both the breadth and limits of the studies. The impact evaluations on which the book is based cover the use of ICT in finance, institutions, education, health, the environment, and labor, as evidenced in the table of contents of the report presented on the next page. Together, this summary and the table of contents provide just a taste of the rich information and innovative approach that distinguish this year's edition of the DIA.

The year 2008 represents an important historical milestone. For the first time, over half of the world's population 3.3 billion people live in urban areas. This significant increase in urban population has resulted from both natural population growth and rural to urban migration. It is important to emphasize that poverty tends to concentrate in cities. More than two-thirds of the urban population lives in developing countries and the increasing level of urbanization in those countries have been accompanied by an increase in urban poverty levels.Abstract: Las áreas centrales de una ciudad contienen una mezcla de problemas y oportunidades. Permiten a sus residentes y empresas la opción de vivir y producir cerca de sus trabajos y mercados, y ofrecen a los gobiernos la posibilidad de reducir los costos de transporte y promover un uso más intensivo de la infraestructura, los espacios públicos y los servicios urbanos existentes. También presentan complejos desafíos de política urbana, incluida la solución de los problemas sociales que afectan a los pobres en esas áreas. Muchas ciudades en el mundo están afrontando activamente estos problemas. En este libro se analizan estas oportunidades y estos retos desde la perspectiva de la práctica del urbanismo.

This publication reviews IDB activities and operations in Guatemala, providing an individual section for each major development initiative.

The year 2008 represents an important historical milestone. For the first time, over half of the world's population 3.3 billion people live in urban areas. This significant increase in urban population has resulted from both natural population growth and rural to urban migration. It is important to emphasize that poverty tends to concentrate in cities. More than two-thirds of the urban population lives in developing countries and the increasing level of urbanization in those countries have been accompanied by an increase in urban poverty levels.

This publication reviews IDB activities and operations in Guatemala, providing an individual section for each major development initiative.

This book focuses in detail on the analysis of foreign direct investment flows to Latin America and the Caribbean from the vantage point and on the basis of statistical sources from the main investor countries.

The Bank has prepared a new set of strategies, presented in this volume, for the two overarching objectives established (Sustainable Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction and Promotion of Social Equity) and for each of the four priority areas highlighted in the Institutional Strategy (Competitiveness, Social Development, Regional Integration, and Modernization of the State). The four priority areas were defined, among other things, in view of the current challenges; the Bank's presence in the region; its experience in working in spheres that require capacity for diagnosis and dialogue; actions that require persistence over time; programs that depend on developing consensus; reforms to policies and institutions; and actions that demand technical and financial assistance. The strategies take on board the cross-cutting nature of the environmental dimension, which is developed in a new Environment Strategy that aims to adequately internalize environmental sustainability.Abstract: El Banco ha preparado un nuevo conjunto de estrategias, que se presentan en este volumen, para sus dos objetivos fundamentales establecidos (Crecimiento Económico Sustentable y de Reducción de. la Pobreza y Promoción de la Equidad Social), y para cada una de las cuatro áreas prioritarias señaladas en la Estrategia Institucional (Competitividad, Desarrollo Social, Integración Regional y Modernización del Estado) como áreas de ventaja comparativa de acción del Banco en su apoyo a los países para avanzar en los dos objetivos fundamentales. Las cuatro áreas prioritarias fueron definidas, entre otros elementos, a luz de los retos actuales, de la presencia del Banco en la región y de su ventaja para operar en ámbitos que requieren capacidad de diagnóstico y diálogo, de acciones que requieren persistencia en el tiempo, de programas que requieren obtención de consensos, de reformas de políticas e instituciones, y de acciones que demandan asistencia técnica y financiera. Las estrategias toman en cuenta el carácter transversal de la dimensión ambiental, lo cual se desarrolla en una nueva Estrategia de medio ambiente que busca la adecuada internalización de la sostenibilidad ambiental.

This executive summary describes the motivation behind this book, the methodologies used, and both the breadth and limits of the studies. The impact evaluations on which the book is based cover the use of ICT in finance, institutions, education, health, the environment, and labor, as evidenced in the table of contents of the report presented on the next page. Together, this summary and the table of contents provide just a taste of the rich information and innovative approach that distinguish this year's edition of the DIA.Abstract: En este resumen ejecutivo se describen la motivación que alienta este libro, las metodologías empleadas y tanto la amplitud como los límites de los estudios. Las evaluaciones experimentales en las que se basa esta obra cubren el uso de las TIC en las áreas de finanzas, instituciones, educación, salud, medio ambiente y mano de obra, como se puede apreciar en la tabla de contenido del informe que se presenta en la página siguiente. Juntos, este resumen y el índice, sirven para formarse una idea de la riqueza informativa y del innovador enfoque que distingue la edición de este año del DIA.

In this occasion the IDB presents the latest edition of the IDB`s flagship publication, Development in the Americas (DIA): "Room for Development: Housing Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean" edited by César P. Bouillon. It takes an in-depth look at the opportunities countries have to improve urban housing markets and pave the way for solutions that involve the private sector. The executive summary is available in this brochure.

Research from the United States shows that gaps in early cognitive and noncognitive abilities appear early in the life cycle. Little is known about this important question for developing countries. This paper provides new evidence of sharp differences in cognitive development by socioeconomic status in early childhood for five Latin American countries. To help with comparability, the paper uses the same measure of receptive language ability for all five countries. It finds important differences in development in early childhood across countries, and steep socioeconomic gradients within every country. For the three countries where panel data to follow children over time exists, there are few substantive changes in scores once children enter school. These results are robust to different ways of defining socioeconomic status, to different ways of standardizing outcomes, and to selective non-response on the measure of cognitive development.

International audience

When potential beneficiaries share their knowledge and attitudes about a policy intervention, their decision to participate and the effectiveness of both the policy and its evaluation may be influenced. This matters most notably in integrated social policies with several components. In this article, spillover effects on take-up behaviors are investigated in the context of a conditional cash transfer program in rural Mexico. These effects are identified using exogenous variations in the local frequency of beneficiaries generated by the program's randomized evaluation. A higher treatment density in the areas surrounding the evaluation villages is found to increase the take-up of scholarships and enrollment at the lower-secondary level. These cross-village spillovers operate exclusively within households receiving another component of the program, and do not carry over larger distances. While several tests reject heterogeneities in impact due to spatial variations in program implementation, evidence is found suggesting that spillovers stem partly from the sharing of information about the program among eligible households.

A variety of theories of skill formation suggest that investments in schooling and other dimensions of human capital will have lower returns if children do not have adequate levels of cognitive and social skills at an early age. This paper analyzes the impact of a randomized cash transfer program on cognitive development in early childhood in rural Nicaragua. It shows that the program had significant effects on cognitive outcomes, especially language. Impacts are larger for older pre-school age children, who are also more likely to be delayed. The program increased intake of nutrient-rich foods, early stimulation, and use of preventive health care-all of which have been identified as risk factors for development in early childhood. Households increased expenditures on these inputs more than can be accounted for by the increases in cash income only, suggesting that the program changed parents'behavior. The findings suggest that gains in early childhood development outcomes should be taken into account when assessing the benefits of cash transfer programs in developing countries. More broadly, the paper illustrates that gains in early childhood development can result from interventions that facilitate investments made by parents to reduce risk factors for cognitive development.

This article develops a theoretical framework to analyze options for financing infrastructurein developing countries. We build a basic model that gives motivations for usinga combination of public finance, private debt and private equity. The model is thenextended in a number of ways to examine a variety of factors that are important fordeveloping countries when considering financing choices. We focus in particular on keyinstitutional weaknesses that are often important for infrastructure investment. Overall,we show that such weaknesses can be key in determining financing choices, but that theydo not all push in the same direction. Financing schemes must therefore be adapted toconsider the institutional limitations that are most pertinent in any given context., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

When potential beneficiaries share knowledge and attitudes about a policy intervention, that can influence their decisions to participate and, in turn, change the effectiveness of both the policy and its evaluation. This matters notably in integrated social policies with several components. We examine neighborhood effects on the take-up of the schooling subsidy component of the Progresa-Oportunidades program in Mexico. We exploit random variations in the local densities of program beneficiaries generated by the randomized evaluation. Higher program densities in areas of 5 km radius increase the take-up of scholarships and enrollment at the junior-secondary level. These neighborhood effects exclusively operate on households receiving another component of the program, and do not carry over larger distances. While several tests reject heterogeneities in impacts due to spatial variations in implementation, we find suggestive evidence that neighborhood effects stem partly from the sharing of information about the program among eligible households.

This paper considers a conditional cash transfer program targeting poor households in small rural villages and studies the effects of the geographic proximity between villages on individual enrollment decisions. Exploiting variations in the treatment status across contiguous villages generated by the randomized evaluation design, the paper finds that the additional effect stemming from the local density of neighboring recipients amounts to roughly one third of the direct effect of program receipt. Importantly, these spatial externalities are concentrated among children from beneficiary households. This suggests that the intervention has enhanced educational aspirations by triggering social interactions among the targeted population.

Special Section on Heterogeneity and University-Industry Relations.-- et al., This paper provides a new and systematic characterization of 488 universities, from 11 European countries: Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and UK. Using micro indicators built on the integrated Aquameth database, we characterize the European university landscape according to the following dimensions: history/foundation of university, dynamics of growth, specialization pattern, subject mix, funding composition, offer profile and productivity. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., Funding support by the European Commission through the PRIME Network of Excellence – Aquameth project (coordinated by Andrea Bonaccorsi and Cinzia Daraio) is gratefully acknowledged.

Les accords commerciaux préférentiels, à la différence des unions douanières, utilisent les règles d'origine (RO) afin de prévenir l'entrée de biens par le pays de la zone dont le droit de douane est le plus faible. Les règles d'origine augmentent les coûts de production et créent des coûts de gestion. L'article montre que dans la récente vague de régionalisme Nord-Sud, les RO limitent l'accès au marché conféré au partenaire du Sud. Dans le cas de NAFTA, 45% de l'accès préférentiel du Mexique aux Etats-Unis en 2000 (correspondant à une préférence tarifaire moyenne de 4%) a été absorbé par des coûts d'administration liés aux RO. Les coûts des RO hors administration pour les firmes mexicaines s'élèvent à 3% de la valeur des importations américaines. Ces résultats corroborent une lecture des accords préférentiels Nord-Sud comme un problème de principal-agent, où les pays du Sud sont justes sur leur contrainte de participation.