Intergenerational Schooling Mobility and Macro Conditions and Schooling Policies in Latin America

The effects of market and policy reforms on poverty and inequality in Latin America have been of considerable concern. The region continues to have relatively great income inequalities. Two different societies with the same income distribution may have different levels of social welfare because they have different degrees of social mobility. To date little attention has been paid to measuring social mobility in the region. Schooling is thought to be a major mechanism through which intergenerational social mobility is affected. This paper explores the strength of the association of family background with child schooling and whether the strength of this association is related to some major macro and aggregate school policy variables

Nature, Development, and Distribution in Latin America. Evidence on the Role of Geography, Climate, and Natural Resources

Latin America`s enormous endowment of natural resources impacts many countries of the region. Economic liberalization in several countries was followed by rapid growth of foreign investment and exports of natural resource-intensive products. Growth of labor-intensive manufacturing industries was much more modest. What does increased reliance upon natural resource-based industries mean for development prospects, and for the distribution of income

Children's Advancement Through School in Brazil: the Role of Transitory Shocks to Household Income

This paper investigates the effects of short-run economic shocks on children`s progress through school in urban Brazil using a unique panel data set. The severe problem of grade repetition in Brazil contributes to overall low education levels. Of children ages 10-15 who are enrolled in school, only 69 percent advance on average to the next grade. This paper investigates whether children`s effort on schoolwork is diminished when parents experience a transitory shock to income