How much do Latin American pension programs promise to pay back?

The authors present a new database of social security indicators for eleven Latin American countries designed to assess pension schemes in terms of the payments they promise in return to contributions. Based on this data, authors analyze inequality, insurance and incentives to work, using the replacement rates and the internal rates of return implicit in the flows of contributions and pensions. Results indicate that most programs analyzed are progressive in the sense that, other things equal, they yield higher returns to low than to high income workers. Poor workers, notwithstanding, often have flat age-earnings profiles and lower life expectancy, both of which reduce the rates of return received from social security. The Argentinean and (the pre-2008) Uruguayan programs severely punish short contribution careers, providing strong incentives for workers in the programs to continue contributing until they reach minimums that vary between 30 and 35 years of contributions. The counterpart is that these programs do not hedge workers against the risk of having short working careers; quite the opposite, they raise the uncertainty workers face. The very low rates of return that the Argentinean and Uruguayan main pension programs pay to workers with short working careers are likely to impact strongly on low income workers, as the probability they experience interruptions is higher. The Brazilian, Chilean and Mexican programs show a better balance between insurance against the risk of short working careers and incentives to work. The defined benefit programs of Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay strongly discourage early retirement; the Chilean and Mexican programs are more neutral. Argentina, Chile and Uruguay passed reforms to their main pension programs in 2008. Unlike the Argentinean reform, the Chilean and Uruguayan 2008 reforms strengthened the social protection that programs provide, shifting the balance towards more insurance and less incentives to work.Pensions&Retirement Systems,Emerging Markets,Debt Markets,Gender and Law,Labor Markets

Best Practices for Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP): Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean and Selected Countries

Over the past few decades, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has witnessed numerous changes in its development, with most being beneficial. Positive changes relate to sizable growth and expansion of the region’s network infrastructure sectors, such as transport, energy, and information and communications technologies (ICT), among others. In many cases, ICT interconnects these critical infrastructures, creating substructures referred to as critical information infrastructures (CIIs). This publication is written to provide insights to the strategic thinking behind the creation of the national critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP) frameworks. It also builds its recommendations on in-depth analysis of the best CIIP practices around the world, with consideration of the region-specific landscape to originate a base line from which further development can be delineated

A Review of Conceptual and Measurement Innovations in National and Regional Human Development Reports, 1998-2009

This paper presents the results from an analysis of sub-national, national and regional human development reports nominated for the Human Development Awards between 1998 and 2009 to highlight conceptual and measurement innovations in human development. Through a careful selection process, nearly 70 reports were identified for this study of which this paper describes innovations in 38 reports along five categories: (a) creating a new measure of human development; (b) using new data source; (c) creating a disaggregated measure of human development; (d) using a new methodology; and (e) adapting the existing measure of human development by adding/modifying an existing dimension. The objective of this paper is to analyze the innovations in the national and regional reports from the perspective of their statistical soundness as well as feasibility of their application at the global level in preparation for the twentieth anniversary issue of the Global HDR in 2010. The study concludes that a majority of the conceptual and measurement innovations in the national and regional reports are highly context driven and therefore, may not be feasible at the global level. Data requirements also limit feasibility of conceptual innovations at the global level. However, there are several interesting and novel ideas that can potentially be replicated at the global level with slight modifications.Human development, innovations, measurement, disaggregation

Best Practices in Intercultural Health

This paper presents some of the background research that contributed to the discussions within the Inter-American Development Bank's policy and strategy regarding indigenous health issues. The paper's conceptual approach and good practice research helped focus the discussion on the importance of intercultural health practices to promote indigenous peoples' access to allopathic health as well as to strengthen those traditional health practices based on indigenous peoples' own knowledge, culture, social networks, institutions and ways of life, that have shown their effectiveness. The paper presents five intercultural health experiences (in Suriname, Guatemala, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia) that are considered best practices in the field. Although poorly financed, these experiences highlight the significance to indigenous peoples of health models that bridge the gap between state-financed allopathic health services and their own indigenous health systems. This study however, does not represent a medical trial on the efficacy or efficiency of intercultural health models.Afro Descendents & Indigenous Peoples, Health Care, intercultural health, health care, indigenous peoples, health care services

Latin America's "New Open Regionalism" and WTO Negotiations: the case of agriculture

This article analyses past trade trends and agricultural protectionism in Latin American agriculture, by examining observed changes in Latin American agriculture and trade policies over the last 20 years that have led to what the authors call the "New Open Regionalism". It also discussed the conflicting interests and various trading positions taken up by Latin American countries in multilateral trade talks, as a result of the strong heterogeneity between net agricultural exporters and importers. The authors show that the repeated failure of the Doha round of trade talks opens the door for bilateral or sub-regional free trade agreements, concluding with the prediction that regional integration in Latin America will come about as a result of agreements between various sub-regional trade blocs. The weakness of internal demand makes the development of the region's agri-food sector highly dependent on exports, the growth of which is one of the main economic drivers in these countries, particularly net exporters. In addressing the issue of the distribution of profits from trade liberalization, the authors propose a variety of schemes that have already proved their effectiveness in countries such as Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua and Honduras Nuevos acuerdos regionales de comercio en Latinoamérica y disposición a negociar: el caso de la agricultura Resumen Este artículo analiza las tendencias del comercio agrario y el proteccionismo de la agricultura en Latinoamérica, examinando los cambios observados en la agricultura y la política comercial en los últimos 20 años, denominados por los autores como "nuevos acuerdos regionales de comercio". También se discuten el conflicto de intereses y las variadas posiciones comerciales desarrolladas por los distintos países de América Latina, como resultado de una fuerte heterogeneidad entre los exportadores y los importadores agrarios netos. Los autores muestran que los reiterados fallos de las negociaciones comerciales de la ronda Doha abrieron las puertas para acuerdos comerciales libres bilaterales o sub-regionales, concluyendo con la predicción de que la integración regional traerá como resultado un acuerdo entre varios bloques de comercio sub-regionales. La debilidad de la demanda interna hace que el desarrollo del sector agroalimentario dependa fuertemente de las exportaciones, especialmente de los exportadores netos. En la dirección de los resultados de la distribución de beneficios de los acuerdos de liberalización, los autores proponen una variedad de esquemas que han tenido su efectividad en países como México, Turquía, Brasil, Colombia, Nicaragua y Honduras. Palabras clave: acuerdos libre de comercio, nuevos acuerdos regionales de comercio y agricultura.Free Trade Agreements, New Open Regionalism and Agriculture, International Relations/Trade, Q17,

A Measurement Study of Online Tracking and Advertising in Ibero-America

The ability of the online marketing industry to track and profile users’ Web-browsing activity is what enables effective, tailored-made advertising services. The intrusiveness of these practices and the increasing invasiveness of digital advertising, however, have raised serious concerns regarding user privacy. Although the level of ubiquity of tracking and advertising has been investigated in top-world sites based in North America and Western Europe, the extent to which those practices are carried out in territories with less or no legal coverage —in terms of data protection— has not been studied so far. In this work, we present the first detailed measurement of online tracking and advertising conducted to date in one of those regions, namely, Ibero-America, by analyzing local websites (e.g., education and government sites). In doing so, our measurement study aims to find out how user location as well as the type of publisher may impact on tracking and advertising and thus user privacy. Lastly, our thorough, extensive analysis also explores whether differences are appreciated between Latin America and the EU with regard to the third-party tracking conducted from and towards the corresponding countries

eHealth Conversations : using information management, dialogue, and knowledge exchange to move toward universal

The publication of eHealth Conversations, developed with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), represents a major step forward for the PAHO/WHO Strategy, since it explores ways of implementing regional mechanisms with free and equitable access to information and knowledge sharing. These initiatives aim to advance the goals of more informed, equitable, competitive, and democratic societies, where access to health information is considered a basic right. This publication is one of the instruments used by PAHO/WHO to develop the initiatives outlined in the Strategy, which coincides with the global eHealth strategy. One of the fundamental needs for the improvement of eHealth is the dissemination of information, and PAHO/WHO is assuming a leading role in this effort. The development of this new electronic publication is a key step in disseminating information that will be useful for decision makers on applying these technologies for the health of the Americas. This electronic book is one of the products of PAHO/WHO’s project: “eHealth Conversations: Using Information Management, Dialogue, and Knowledge Exchange to Move Toward Universal Access to Health.” Participants in these conversations included experts on electronic health and other specialties. Through virtual dialogues, the experts contributed with knowledge and reflections on the present and the future of eHealth in the Americas, analyzed the situation, and made recommendations for the implementation of electronic health initiatives. These recommendations are not only intended for PAHO/ WHO, but also for governments and the private sector. The aim of the project is to guarantee the convergence of local, national, and regional initiatives regarding the adoption and application of ICTs for public health, with special attention on critical issues in this field. It also intends to strengthen individual and collective capacities of health workers and institutions, connecting them in a network of on-line health networks, as well as to reinforce the PAHO/WHO eHealth program.Acknowledge the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) for its financial support in preparing this publication and developing the project titled “eHealth Conversations: Using Information Management, Dialogue, and Knowledge Exchange to Move Toward Universal Access to Health;

Globalization, Health Sector Reform, Gender and Reproductive Health

Explores the interrelationships between globalization and health sector reforms, and how changes in macro-economic and social policies affect women's reproductive health and rights

Latin America 2060: consolidation or crisis?

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Center Task Force Reports, a publication series that began publishing in 2009 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.Latin America has produced vigorous ideas throughout its history, expressed in narratives about its struggles and successes, or its weaknesses and failures. Together, these have shaped a multi-faceted vision of the region and its peoples. Some of its expositors, finding the story to be neither complete nor precise, work toward reformulations, some quite radical. Such generation of knowledge in different fields seems destined to yield a variety of distinct outcomes, at least in part because some of the emerging social and cultural movements are not yet very well structured. This Task Force Report project seeks to harness ideas about the region’s future into a coherent and policy useful discourse. A Workshop and a Task Force meeting was held at Boston University on November 18-19, 2010. A select group of invited experts – a mix of academic scholars and practitioners – were asked to turn their ideas into short ‘Think Pieces’ essays. Each Think Piece focuses on a specific topical issue for the region as a whole, instead of looking only at particular countries. These Think Piece essays are compiled and edited by the Task Force coordinator and published by the Pardee Center as a Task Force Report