Poverty, inequality, and welfare in a rapid-growth economy: The Chilean experience

Poverty reduction, Hunger, Inequality, Poverty, Equal opportunity, Education,

Vouchers, School Choice and the Access to Higher Education

For over twenty years, a voucher system has been used in Chile to promote competition in the educational system between public and private schools. Attending a private subsidized school is associated with increased standardized test scores, but the apparent impact is relatively small. Controlling for school choice using a supply-side instrument (school availability at community level) implies substantially larger impacts of the voucher system. The effect of parents' education on academic performance is smaller than that implied by simple OLS estimates that do not control for school choice. Finally, the results also show that family school choice is gender biased, females are sent more often to voucher schools while males are sent more often to private (non voucher) schools. In addition, the TSLS estimates show that females gain less than males from going to voucher schools.Education, Vouchers, Gender, Chile

Vouchers, School Choice and the Access to Higher Education

Private provision of education is a topic that has received a great deal of attention around the world in recent years. For over twenty years, a voucher system has been used in Chile to provide public funding to both private and public schools in order to promote competition in the educational system. Previous research using Chilean data has shown a rather disappointing result for the voucher system. Attending a private subsidized school does increase standardized test scores, but the impact is relatively small. However, in this paper we aim to show that previous research results are biased because the endogeneity of school choice has not been taken into account. This study uses data from the 1998 Academic Aptitude Test (PAA), a college entrance examination analogous to the SAT in the United States, to estimate educational production functions. Controlling for school choice using a supply-side instrument (school availability at community level) gives significantly higher estimates of the impacts of the voucher system. The TSLS results also show that the effect of parent’s education on academic performance is smaller than that implied by simple OLS estimates that do not control for school choice. Therefore, previous studies of the Chilean voucher system have overestimated the impact of parental education on school performance and underestimated the benefits of the voucher system. Finally, the results also show that family school choice is gender biased, females are sent more often to voucher schools while males are sent more often to private (non voucher) schools. In addition, the TSLS estimates show that females gain less than males from going to voucher schools. These outcomes predict that the educational gender gap is widening

Poverty and Income Distribution in Chile: 1987-1998 New Evidence

This paper presents an update on the poverty and income distribution situation in Chile during the 90s. The analysis shows unambiguously that there was less poverty between 1994 and 1998 than in all earlier years, whether poverty is measured by the headcoPoverty, income distribution, growth, Chile

The effects of lengthening the school day on female labor supply: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in Chile

In 1996, the Chilean government approved the extension of the school day, increasing the amount of time that students spend at school by 30%. Using data from the Chilean socio- economic household survey and administrative data from the Ministry of Education for 1990- 2006, we exploit the quasi-experimental nature of the reform’s implementation by time and region in order to identify the causal impact of the program on labor participation, employment and hours worked for women between 20 and 65 years old. The identification strategy relies on a fixed effect model of repeated cross-section. The results show a positive and significant effect on labor participation and female employment in all age groups and a negative and statistically significant effect on the number of hours worked. The main conclusion of this study is that the implicit childcare subsidy induced by the program had a positive and significant impact on the labor supply of women in Chile.Female labor supply; childcare; fertility; labor supply; Chile.

Anti-Crime Programs: An Evaluation of the Comuna Segura Program

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact that the anti-crime program Comuna Segura: Compromiso 100 had on the reporting rate of different types of crimes. This program, implemented in Chile starting in 2001, was very highly criticized and, therefore, was eliminated in 2006. This paper provides statistical evidence, using the impact assessment methodology, which shows that the program was successful in increasing the reporting rate in targeted municipalities and also in decreasing levels of crimes associated with other crimes, such as rape. All this underlies the importance of carrying out formal impact assessments in order to determine benefits that are associated with a particular program. However, financial issues are also very important too and it is necessary to take them in account when making a fair statement about the cost-effectiveness of the program. This point is, however, not addressed in this paper but should be kept in mind in order to have a complete picture of the program.Crime, Program evaluation, Matching.

Desigualdad salarial en América Latina: una década de cambios

Incluye BibliografíaVersión en inglés disponible en BibliotecaEl presente trabajo contribuye a explicar los determinantes de ladistribución salarial en América Latina durante la década de 1990. Enel estudio se utiliza el modelo básico de descomposición de la varianzade los salarios propuesto por Fields (2002);, basado en la estimación deuna ecuación de salarios a la Mincer corregida por sesgo de selección.Esta metodología permite cuantificar los efectos de las diversasvariables explicativas de la desigualdad salarial. En los principalesresultados resalta que la educación es por lejos el factor más relevantede la desigualdad salarial en la región. Además, su importancia haaumentado en el tiempo, a pesar de que el poder explicativo del modelose ha mantenido estable

El papel de las redes sociales en las oportunidades económicas de las mujeres de Bolivia

En este trabajo se analiza el papel de las redes sociales para determinar la participación de mujeres bolivianas en actividades generadoras de ingresos. Los resultados hacen pensar que las redes sociales son un canal eficaz para que las mujeres obtengan acceso a empleos asalariados, los cuales son de mayor calidad que los empleos independientes. Por el contrario, sus contrapartes varones perciben un efecto positivo aunque estadísticamente insignificante en la interacción con redes sociales. Al tomar en cuenta el sexo del contacto, las mujeres de zonas urbanas se benefician de otras mujeres empleadas, mientras en las zonas rurales las mujeres se benefician de la presencia de más trabajadores hombres empleados. (Disponible en Inglés)

Informal jobs and contribution to social security: Evidence from a double selection model

We estimate a double selection model to study informality in the Chilean labor market. We use three different measures of informality: lack of a signed contract, contribution to social security and both at the same time. The double selection states that, in a first stage, individuals chose between the formal and informal sector, the one that gives them the highest utility, and in a second stage, employers will select some workers from the ones that chose the formal sector, but some workers will not be chosen and then will be excluded from the formal sector. We find that this double selection model fits the data better than a simple selection model, confirming that there is some exclusion. We also find that education is that variable that is most highly correlated with informality. Finally, the results suggest that the head of the household is less likely to be informal, which could imply that informality affects mostly the secondary labor force in the household. Also, the number of children are negatively correlated with being formal.