In this paper we contribute to the understanding of the politics of state building. We emphasize that incumbent clientelistic parties might have incentives to sustain state fragility when politically challenged. We develop ...

Slum identification in urban settlements is a crucial step in the process of formulation of propoor policies. However, the use of conventional methods for slums detection such as field surveys may result time consuming and ...

This study evaluates the impacts of a business training program serving female microentrepreneurs in Lima that have previously benefited with the titling of their urban parcels. The intervention included personal development, ...

Este artículo presenta una evaluación del esquema de subsidios cruzados a las tarifas de servicios públicos vigentes en Colombia, basada en el análisis de encuestas de hogares, y estudia las propiedades de esquemas ...

Las transferencias condicionadas de ingreso, ampliamente extendidas en América Latina, afectan decisiones económicas de sus beneficiarios y tienen impactos sobre distintas dimensiones de su bienestar. En este trabajo, ...

This paper documents a rare phenomenon: the consequence of the dominance of a single criminal gang in the city of São Paulo, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). Using unique data to identify entry in geographically ...

This paper uses high-resolution images of nighttime luminosity to estimate a globally comparable measure of the size of metropolitan areas around the world for the years 2000 and 2010. We apply recently-proposed methodologies ...

We show that local politicians’ probability of being employed by a municipality increases when they have a strong party connection to its mayor. Using a regression discontinuity design, we compare the employment outcomes ...

Workers at subnational governments play a prominent role in the delivery of public services in most countries. Yet, information about their remuneration is scarce. Using data for Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay, we document ...

This paper documents spatial patterns in intergenerational mobility at the top of the educational distribution and assess the role of public policies in increasing educational opportunities. Our analysis relies on novel ...