Access to Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Is There a Gender Gap?

This paper assesses whether there is a gender gap in the use of financial services by businesses and individuals in Sub - Saharan Africa. W e show the existence of an unconditional gender gap , as the absolute use of financial services is higher for males than fem ales . However, when key observable characteristics of the enterprises or individuals are taken into account the gender gap disappear s . In the case of enterprises, we explain our finding with differences in key characteristics and a poenti a l selection bias – females owned ones are smaller, younger and less likely to run sole proprietorships than men, furthermore these are more likely to innovate and more prevalent in sectors that tend to rely less on access to external finance . In the case of individuals, the lower use of formal financial services by women can be explained by gender gaps in other dimensions related to the use of financial services, such as their lower level of income and educ ation, and by their household and employment status. E xploring the reasons for not applying or being unba n ked shows that traditional bank barrier s such as higher interest rates, lack of formal income or job are more binding for females than for males . This suggests that , conditional o n their observable characteristics, females do not have inherently lower demand nor that there is taste - based discrimination

The rise of noncommunicable diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges for public health policies

The health landscape in Latin America and the Caribbean is changing quickly. The region is undergoing a demographic and epidemiological transition in which health problems are highly concentrated on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). In light of this, the region faces two main challenges: (1) develop cost-effective policies to prevent NCD risk factors, and (2) increase access to quality healthcare in a scenario in which a large share of the labor force is employed in the informal sector. This paper describes both alternative interventions to expand health insurance coverage and their trade-off with labor informality and moral hazard problems. The paper also focuses on obesity as a case example of an NCD, and emphasizes how lack of knowledge along with self-control problems would lead people to make suboptimal decisions related to food consumption, which may later manifest in obesity problems.Fil: Anauati, Maria Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de San Andrés; ArgentinaFil: Galiani, Sebastian. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Weinschelbaum, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentin