The Impact of Public and Private Job Training in Colombia

The authors present matching estimators of the impact on earnings for individuals who attended public and private job training programs in Colombia. They estimate propensity scores by controlling for the variety of personal and socioeconomic background variables of those individuals. The effect of training, measured by the mean impact of the treatment on the treated, shows that: (i) for youths, no institution has a significant impact in the short or long run except private institutions for males; the scope of the data, however, limits the reliability of the result; (ii) for adult males, neither SENA nor the other public institutions have a significant impact in the short or long run; (iii) for SENA-trained adult females there are positive but not significant impacts in the short run and greater and close to significant effects in the long run. All other public institutions have a higher impact that is significant in the long-run; (iv) for adults trained at private institutions there are large and significant effects in both the short and long run, but for adult males in the short run the effects are smaller and only barely significant. In addition, neither short nor long courses provided by SENA seem to have a significant impact on earnings. In general, females benefit more from both short and long courses than males. Finally, a cost-benefit analysis shows that under the assumption of direct unitary costs equal to SENA, private institutions are more profitable than public institutions, which are in turn more profitable than SENA.

Productivity of Household Investment in Health: The Case of Colombia

The purpose of this study is to understand how public and private investments in health in Colombia are related to future earnings of individuals. The returns to good health of individuals and the determinants of the health production function are analyzed. The magnitude of the returns to having good health status is identified through the direct effect of health variables on earnings of individuals. Regional (rural-urban) and gender aspects are considered separately. The significant IV estimates showed that one more day of disability decreased male rural earnings by 33% and female by 13%, that having a disability in a given month decreased the earnings of an urban male by 28% and by 14% for an urban female, and that having one more centimeter of stature increased urban female earnings by 6. 9% and urban male earnings by 8%. These returns to height are much larger than those found in other countries and reveal that investments in nutrition are as important as investments in education for future increases in productivity and growth. Estimations of health production functions showed that it would be desirable to increase social security coverage in rural areas in order to see a lower incidence or duration of illness in these regions. However, in urban areas, where the system of social security is more developed, social security may increase the tendency to report illness. In general, wealthier individuals tend to have better health and the interaction between non-labor income of the individual and adequate housing affects positively the health status of individuals. Policies oriented to increase the coverage of basic services in households, such as electricity, potable water or sewage, have a negligible effect on height and, through height, on productivity. Policies oriented to provide more adequate housing translate into better health conditions and productivity for individuals.

A Dynamic Analysis of Household Decision-Making in Urban Colombia, 1976-1998: Changes in Household Structure, Human Capital and its Returns, and Female Labor Force Participation

The objective of this paper is to examine the changes and dynamics of household structure, human capital and the returns to education, labor earnings, women’s labor force participation and investment in human capital. The approach used in the analysis is the so-called "cohort technique," which consists of following across time men and women born in the same year or year spell. The main sources of information for this work are the quarterly Household Surveys beginning in 1976. With such information a database of more than 6 million observations (workers, parents, children, etc. ) was constructed. The research results show that the number of children of the younger parents has drastically decreased. This process has been accompanied by a significant increase in women’s labor force participation and higher women’s school attainment. The study also points out that the school attainment of the younger generation of women is higher than men’s and that the income gap between men and women of the new generation, after controlling for education, is lower than the gap in older generations. Finally, the study indicates that human capital accumulation has been very unequal for different income groups. The children of low educated parents achieve low levels of education both in old and new generations. Thus, escaping from the poverty trap is as difficult today as in the past, as education opportunities are concentrated in the middle and high-income groups.

Teenage Childbearing in Latin American Countries

In spite of the rapid fertility transition experienced by most Latin American and Caribbean countries, teenage fertility has not changed at the same pace or in the same direction. Given that early childbearing is deleterious for both mother and child, we describe differentials in the levels and trends in teenage childbearing and analyze its proximate and socioeconomic determinants. We used Demographic and Health Surveys data from six LAC countries for which data are available for the second half of the 1990s: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Peru. Teenage fertility trends indicate different patterns of change across countries by area of residence. However, in most countries teenage fertility has increased in rural areas but declined or remained constant in urban areas. Different contributions of marriage, proper use of family planning methods, and premarital births to teenage fertility behavior are reflected in differentials in unmarried parenthood across countries. Socioeconomic determinants are analyzed through simple logit model, multilevel analysis, and continuous-time hazard rate models. These analyses improve on prior research on LAC countries by including contextual/regional factors, isolating the effects into differentials in sexual activity and rates of childbearing, and by comparing the socioeconomic determinants of the timing of first birth and premarital birth. This research demonstrates that the effect of socioeconomic variables on the rate of childbearing can act through the timing of initial sexual intercourse (such as education, socioeconomic conditions of the households and area or residence) or through the timing of first birth (such as socialization in a female-headed family, availability - cceptability - use of family planning, and regional - country conditions, such as cultural and inherent characteristics).

TEENAGE CHILDBEARING IN LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES

In spite of the rapid fertility transition experienced by most LAC countries, teenage fertility has not changed at the same pace or direction. Given early childbearing is deleterious for both mother and child, we describe the differentials in the levels and trends in teenage childbearing and analyze its proximate and socioeconomic determinants. We used DHS data from six LAC countries, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Peru, for which there is available data for the second half of the 90´s. Teenage fertility trends indicate different patterns of change across countries by area of residence. However, in most countries teenage fertility has increased in rural areas but has declined or remained constant in urban areas. Different contributions of marriage, proper use of family planning methods, and premarital births to teenage fertility behavior are reflected in differentials in unmarried parenthood across countries. Socioeconomic determinants are analyzed through: simple logit model, multilevel analysis, and continuous-time hazard rate models. These analyzes improve on prior research on LAC countries by: including contextual/regional factors, by isolating the effects into differentials in sexual activity and rates of childbearing, and by comparing the socioeconomic determinants of the timing of first birth and premarital birth. This research demonstrates that the effect of socioeconomic variables on the rate of childbearing can act through the timing of initial sexual intercourse (such as education, socioeconomic conditions of the households and area or residence) or through the timing of first birth (such as socialization in a female-headed family, availability/acceptability/use of family planning, and regional/country conditions - cultural and inherent characteristics).Childbearing

ÉXITOS Y FRACASOS DE LA REFORMA LABORAL EN COLOMBIA

El estudio tiene como objetivo medir el impacto de la Ley 789 de 2002 sobre la estabilidad laboral, el desempleo y la formalización de las relaciones laborales. Utilizando un análisis de supervivencia se encontró que la duración del desempleo cae fuertemente entre 2004 y 2002. Parte de este efecto se debe a la reforma laboral que entró en vigencia en abril de 2003. Así mismo, la probabilidad de encontrar empleo en el sector formal se incrementó cerca de 6% como consecuencia de la reforma. Por consiguiente, se puede afirmar que los cambios en la legislación laboral ayudaron a formalizar la economía y a mejorar la calidad del empleo. Por otro lado, se encontró que la duración del empleo aumenta en aquellos sectores donde se esperaban fuertes impactos de la reforma, y lo más posible es que estos efectos aumenten en el largo plazo.Flexibilidad laboral

ASISTENCIA SOCIAL EN COLOMBIA DIAGNÓSTICO Y PROPUESTAS

Este trabajo busca realizar un diagnóstico de la oferta de asistenta social en el país y llevar a cabo algunas recomendaciones sobre el posible montaje de un componente de asistencia social dentro del Sistema de Protección Social. En el diagnóstico se define la población objetivo de la asistencia social y se analizan sus principales características. Luego se realiza un estudio del portafolio actual de asistencia social en Colombia y se llevan a cabo algunas estimaciones para establecer la incidencia del gasto en protección social sobre la pobreza y la brecha de pobreza para el año 2003. Por último, se analiza la focalización en la entrega de servicios de asistencia social, incluyendo el estudio de errores de inclusión (inclusión de personas no pobres dentro de los receptores de los subsidios) y errores de exclusión (proporción de población pobre que no recibe asistencia social). En la sección de propuestas se establecen los principales problemas de la oferta de asistencia social en el país y se realizan recomendaciones en términos de priorización de servicios, incentivos, focalización, coordinación institucional,financiación y descentralización, entre otros.Asistencia social

¿Cómo va Bogotá Sin Hambre"?"

Este estudio presenta un análisis del programa distrital Bogota sin Hambre" (BSH). Los resultados indican que, con excepción del proyecto comedores comunitarios, BSH no es otra cosa que una mayor coordinación institucional y un aumento de los recursos en los proyectos que tradicionalmente ha realizado el Distrito para contrarrestar los problemas de pobreza, vulnerabilidad y marginalidad. En general, el balance de esta intervención es muy positivo. BSH ha incrementado significativamente la población beneficiaria de subsidios alimentarios en el Distrito, y después de dos años de ejecución, ya había alcanzado un cumplimiento de 85% de la meta de cobertura del Plan de Desarrollo. La principal debilidad del programa radica en la focalización de sus beneficiarios. Una encuesta realizada a los beneficiarios de comedores comunitarios indica que el 20% de los usuarios de este proyecto son no pobres y que sólo el 45% está clasificado en el nivel 1 del SISBEN. El estudio sugiere estandarizar la estrategia de focalización de los proyectos similares de BSH para reducir los errores de inclusión. Así mismo, se enfatiza en la importancia de diseñar y realizar una evaluación de impacto del programa, sin la cuál será imposible atribuir a BSH algún efecto sobre el estado nutricional de los beneficiarios."subsidios de nutrición pobreza focalización

EXCLUSIÓN E INCIDENCIA DEL GASTO SOCIAL

Este trabajo realiza un acercamiento a la incidencia de los subsidios sociales que existen en Colombia a través del análisis de los efectos de los subsidios sobre la pobreza, y de la efectividad de la focalización de dichos subsidios. En una primera etapa, y utilizando datos de la Encuesta de Calidad de Vida de 2003, se busca establecer los efectos de los subsidios sobre la pobreza y la brecha de pobreza. Los resultados muestran que los subsidios en agregado tienen impactos importantes sobre la pobreza y la brecha de pobreza. Sin embargo, para cada subsidio particular, aunque algunos tienen impactos significativos sobre la pobreza, en otros casos el efecto es cercano a cero. En una segunda etapa el trabajo analiza la efectividad de la focalización de los subsidios, calculando los errores de inclusión (hogares no-pobres que reciben subsidio) y los determinantes de los errores de exclusión (hogares pobres que no reciben subsidio). Los resultados muestran que existen algunos problemas en la focalización de los subsidios, ya que un porcentaje alto de los hogares que reciben subsidios no son pobres. En adición, en la entrega de subsidios se tiende a discriminar en contra de hogares pobres con presencia de adultos mayores, desplazados y en los que el jefe de hogar tiene niveles ducativos más bajos.Pobreza