Search

Begin New Search Topic Economics Political Geography Peru Content Type Working Paper

1. COVID-19 and External Shock: Economic Impacts and Policy Options

Author:
Miguel Jaramillo and Hugo Nopo
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE)
Abstract:
Latin America is currently suffering from two independent but related shocks: the impact of COVID-19 and the shock of commodity prices. Peru, we argue, is a case in which the strongest impact comes from the pandemic. Peru was the first country in Latin America to react and implement sanitary and economic measures against the coronavirus. The country has been in mandatory quarantine since Monday, March 16. This carries very important challenges for all economic actors. Global and national activity has suffered a sudden stop with direct implications for: (i) the income generating capacity of independent workers, (ii) the jobs of formal and informal and informal workers, and (iii) the survival of small, medium and large companies. In this note we consider the situation of Peruvian households in the face of the pandemic, exploring their vulnerabilities through an analysis of their main source of income generation: work. We also consider the situation of the companies that employ the workers under analysis. We present an overview of what the government’s main action have been so far and offer some recommendations.
Topic:
Economics, Political Economy, Economic Policy, Coronavirus, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

2. Multiple Violations of Labor Market Regulations: Patterns in the Peruvian Labor Market and the Impact of Enforcement

Author:
Mariana Viollaz
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
This paper quantifies labor law violations and how the enforcement efforts impact on the compliance level by considering the possibility of different labor regulations being violated simultaneously. The findings for the Peruvian labor markets over the period 2004-2013 indicate that: (i) multiple violations of labor regulations are an important feature of Peruvian labor markets; (ii) young workers, workers with low level of education, indigenous workers, workers in micro firms and workers employed in the agricultural sector have higher chances of being deprived of several labor benefits simultaneously; (iii) the enforcement of labor regulations, captured through the number of labor inspections at the region level, is effective in detecting and penalizing extreme situations of multiple violations of the labor law, but the evidence also suggests that firms adjust only partially as an attempt to reduce the amount of a potential fine if discovered, and that laid off workers during the adjustment process moved to the informal sector where firms are not inspected. These findings are useful from a policy perspective indicating that there is space to improve firms’ incentives when facing an increase in the enforcement effort.
Topic:
Economics, Labor Issues, Law Enforcement, Law, Regulation, Labor Policies, and Economic Policy
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

3. Setting an example? Spillover effects of Peruvian Magnet Schools

Author:
Alejandro Herrera, Mariel Bedoya, Bruno Gonzaga, and Karen Espinoza
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
In this paper we use a Multi-Cutoff Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design to evaluate spillover effects of students enrolled into Peruvian public magnet schools, Colegios de Alto Rendimiento (COAR), on educational outcomes of younger students in their schools of origin. Using administrative data from the Ministry of Education for 2016, we find that having at least one student admitted in a COAR school causes some negative spillover effects on math test scores of students from the following cohort. No evidence of statistically significant results is found for verbal and history test scores, nor for self-reported educational expectations. We discuss potential causes and reasons that may explain our results.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Education
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

4. Hybrid Institutions: Institutionalizing Practices in the Context of Extractive Expansion

Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Postgraduate Program on Sustainable Development and Social Inequalities in the Andean Region (trAndeS)
Abstract:
States face the challenge of developing institutions to govern the activities of social actors when an area under their control becomes the target of increased extractive activities. National and local public regulations safeguarding the environment, the assignment of extractive rights to individuals or companies, and handling of ensuing conflicts are developed in an institutional gray zone. This paper analyzes how informal institutions developed in early period become hybrid institutional entanglements that depend largely on configurations of power. It does so by looking at two cases in Peru: Water extraction in Ica, mostly by large companies and gold mining in Madre de Dios, mostly by small scale miners. Taken together, these cases show the institutions resulting from state governance of extractive activities depends heavily on the agency and political leverage of the state but also of other social actors.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Environment, Natural Resources, Water, Institutions, and Ecology
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

5. Revisiting the determinants of non-farm income in the Peruvian Andes in a context of intraseasonal climate variability and spatially widespread family networks

Author:
Carmen Ponce
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE)
Abstract:
Non-farm income sources are increasingly important in the developing world, representing up to 50 percent of average rural household income. Although there is a vast literature on the determinants of rural households’ strategies for income diversification, two factors associated with long-term transformations and common to many developing countries, have not yet been integrated into the analysis: (i) the role of intraseasonal climate variability (affected by climate change), and (ii) the role of family networks located in distant areas (increasingly important given population displacement due to the internal conflict and increasing connectivity via roads and communications). Whereas an increase in climate variability entails an increase in risk and vulnerability for farm activities, family networks located in distant regions(that do not share the local climate or market shocks) may become a key asset for managing risk and fostering income opportunities (as long as they convey information and opportunities that are not available through local networks). Given the market imperfections that are common in developing rural areas—especially those related to climate risk management—explicit consideration of both factors is key to understanding rural households’ diversification strategies. The study aims to contribute to this pending agenda, investigating the role of these two factors on a household’s income diversification into non-farm activities in the Peruvian Andes, a mountain region with large intraseasonal climate variability and limited but increasing spatial connectivity, where the rural population was severely affected by the internal conflict that took place in the country during the eighties and nineties.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics, Rural, Industry, Ecology, and Farming
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

6. Producing Knowledge in the Global South: The Political Economy of Social Science in Argentina, Colombia, and Peru

Author:
Richard Snyder, Maria Angelica Bautista, Angelica Duran-Martinez, and Jazmin Sierra
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
Abstract:
How do international inequalities in funding, institutional support and research capacity affect the production of social science knowledge? New data on the political economy of research in Latin America shows that funding for social science is organized in sharply contrasting ways across countries, with three types of capital -- foreign, domestic public, and domestic private -- playing distinct roles. This cross-national variation in the role played by each type of capital, in turn, has contrasting consequences for (1) who produces knowledge, that is, for the professional credentials and networks needed to gain access to funding for research; and (2) for the kind of knowledge produced, especially for the comparative scope and policy relevance of research. A focus on cross-national variation in how social science is funded provides a stronger understanding of knowledge production in the Global South.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Argentina, Colombia, Latin America, and Peru

7. Who Sets the Intellectual Agenda? Foreign Funding and Social Science in Peru

Author:
Richard Snyder, Kelly Bay, and Cecilia Perla
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
Abstract:
This article explores the political economy of social science research in the Global South by analyzing new bibliometric and survey data on Peru, a lower-middle income country with weak domestic funding and institutional support for scholarship. The results of the analysis show that although research in Peru is heavily dependent on foreign funding, the multiplicity of funding institutions gives scholars a surprising degree of autonomy. Still, dependence on foreign funding produces conditions with potentially harmful consequences for the quality and impact of research. Five conditions are considered: multiple institutional affiliations, hyperproductivity, forced interdisciplinarity, parochialism, and a weak national community of scholars.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

8. The Impact of Taxes and Social Spending on Inequality and Poverty in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru: A Synthesis of Results

Author:
Nora Lustig
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
We apply a standard tax-and-benefit-incidence analysis to estimate the impact on inequality and poverty of direct taxes, indirect taxes and subsidies, and social spending (cash and food transfers and in-kind transfers in education and health). The extent of inequality reduction induced by direct taxes and transfers is rather small (2 percentage points on average), especially when compared with that found in Western Europe (15 percentage points on average). What prevents Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil from achieving similar reductions in inequality is not the lack of revenues but the fact that they spend less on cash transfers—especially transfers that are progressive in absolute terms—as a share of GDP. Indirect taxes result in that net contributors to the fiscal system start at the fourth, third, and even second decile on average, depending on the country. When in-kind transfers in education and health are added, however, the bottom six deciles are net recipients. The impact of transfers on inequality and poverty reduction could be higher if spending on direct cash transfers that are progressive in absolute terms were increased, leakages to the nonpoor reduced, and coverage of the extreme poor by direct transfer programs expanded.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, Health, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia

9. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) Negotiations: Overview and Prospects

Author:
Deborah Elms and C. L. Lim
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement currently under negotiation between nine countries in three continents, including Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States and Vietnam. In late 2011 three additional countries--Japan, Canada and Mexico--announced their intention to join as well. The TPP has always been called a "high quality, 21st century" agreement that covers a range of topics not always found in free trade agreements. This includes not just trade in goods, services and investment, but also intellectual property rights, government procurement, labor, environment, regulations, and small and medium enterprises. This paper traces the complex negotiations and evolution of the talks since the early 2000s to the present.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, Labor Issues, and Intellectual Property/Copyright
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Malaysia, Canada, Israel, Vietnam, Latin America, Australia, Australia/Pacific, Mexico, Singapore, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, and Brunei

10. Capital Requirements under Basel III in Latin America: The Cases of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

Author:
Liliana Rojas-Suarez, Arturo J. Galindo, and Marielle del Valle
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
A number of banks in developed countries argue that the new capital requirements under Basel III are too stringent and that implementing the proposed regulation would require raising large amounts of capital, with adverse consequences on credit and the cost of finance. In contrast, many emerging market economies claim that their systems are adequately capitalized and that they have no problems with implementing the new capital requirements. This paper conducts a detailed calculation of capital held by the banks in four Latin American countries—known as the Andean countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru—and assesses the potential effects of full compliance with the capital requirements under Basel III. The conclusions are positive and show that while capital would decline somewhat in these countries after they make adjustments to comply with the new definition of capital under Basel III, they would still meet the Basel III recommendations on capital requirements. More importantly, these countries would hold Tier capital to risk-weighted-asset ratios significantly above the 8.5 percent requirement under Basel III. That is, not only the quantity, but also the quality of capital is adequate in the countries under study. While encouraging, these results should not be taken as a panacea since the new regulations are only effective if coupled with appropriate risk management and supervision mechanisms to control the build-up of excessive risk-taking by banks. Further research into these areas is needed for a complete assessment of the strength of banks in the Andean countries.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
Colombia, Latin America, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia

11. Inward FDI in Peru and its policy context

Author:
Benjamin Chavez and Jaime Dupuy
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Peru has shifted from being a small FDI player in the Latin America and Caribbean region in the 1990s to being the sixth largest FDI host country in 2008. With inflows of US$ 6.9 and US$ 4.8 billions in 2008 and 2009, respectively, Peru has managed to contain the impact of the financial crisis on inward FDI (IFDI). The main determinants of the improved FDI performance were: a stable economic and FDI policy since 1992;) vast natural resources; strong gross domestic product (GDP) and market growth; and an export-oriented economy, especially during the past decade. In recent years, Peru has become one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America and a diversified commercial hub for IFDI in the region.
Topic:
Economics, Monetary Policy, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Latin America, Caribbean, and Peru

12. Merry Sisterhood or Guarded Watchfulness? Cooperation Between the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

Author:
Michael Fabricius
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Since their inception at the end of the Second World War, the sister organizations of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have aimed to consistently speak with one voice vis-à-vis their member governments. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that they often do not speak in one voice. Fabricius draws on field research conducted in Ghana, Pakistan, Peru, and Vietnam to identify the conditions that determine whether or not the organizations are indeed on the same page and to address whether their traditional plea for consistency is always desirable. He recommends which measures seem crucial to ensure Bank-Fund consistency. At the same time he argues that under certain conditions, this consistency may lead to policy choices that are only second-best. He proposes that the Bank and the Fund pursue a case-specific approach in deciding whether they should take the same stance. A more flexible approach may increase not only the ownership of borrowing countries but also the sustainability of policy choices.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Vietnam, Peru, and Ghana

13. U.S. Policy in the Andean Region

Author:
Michael Shifter
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Even within Latin America's generally gloomy economic and political outlook, the countries of the Andean region—Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia—stand out as especially problematic and unsettled. For the United States, this set of countries, with some 120 million citizens, poses enormous policy challenges. Fostering democracy, expanding trade, combating drugs, promoting stability, and advancing social development are just some of the challenges germane to this region which, in the context of globalization, post-September 11, become even more compelling.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States, Colombia, South America, Latin America, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia