Navigating Uncertainty: Investment Dynamics and Beyond
Countries have been increasingly decentralizing and devolving powers to lower levels of government in the hope of improving services delivery. Yet proliferation of governments, particularly in a developing country setting, may create fiscal and policy uncertainty and increase the tax and compliance burden for private businesses, with potentially detrimental effects for investment. This hypothesis is tested in the context of Indonesia, which has increased the number of districts from 284 in 1989 to 511 by 2014.
The EIB Climate Survey: Africa and the Middle East
The survey results came at a critical moment for Africa, following COP 27, where the central issues were finding more resources to mitigate global warming and adapting to its effects. A decisive agreement was also made on a new “loss and damage” fund for vulnerable countries severely hurt by climate disasters.
Read the full survey to discover how people in Africa view climate change’s impact on their livelihood.
Wealth Inequality in Latin America
In this study, we estimate aggregates based on macroeconomic data, and inequality based on recently available surveys. We contrast our results with the literature, with a handful of state-of-the-art estimates from administrative sources, and with more available but extrapolated estimates from Credit Suisse and wid.world. Considering all the evidence, we distinguish reliable facts from what can only be conjectured or speculated.
Cutting plastics pollution Financial measures for a more circular value chain
This report by the European Investment Bank’s Innovation and Digital Finance Advisory Division examines the inefficiencies that lead to leakages across the plastics value chain — built up over many decades of exponential growth in both the types and volume of plastics produced — and the potential for directing investment towards solutions to the problem.
Advanced digital technologies and investment in employee training: Complements or substitutes?
Using firm-level data covering the 27 EU countries, the UK and the US, we show that employers tend to reduce investment in training per employee after adopting advanced digital technologies (ADT). We estimate with a control function approach firm-level production functions augmented with two factors, the training stock per employee and digital technology use.
The landscape of B2C e-commerce marketplaces in Latin America and the Caribbean
The digitization of economy, and particularly the e-commerce can encourage innovation and contribute to the process of digital transformation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) through the implementation of digital technologies and new business models, which can improve the efficiency and productivity of companies beyond its effects on access to new markets.
Opportunities for Boosting: Output, Employment and Value Chains: Economic Report on Central America, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic
This report examines the production structure of the countries of the region in order to pinpoint strategies for economic recovery, job creation, and export diversification. In this way, public policy responses will be able to take into account the specific characteristics of each sector
Outlook of Fiscal Relations among Government Levels in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have prepared this publication, Outlook of
Fiscal Relations among Government Levels in Latin America and the Caribbean,
with the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development
Cooperation (AECID).
Consumer Loans, Heterogeneous Interest Rates, and Inequality
Using the Brazilian administrative credit registry data with the universe of all
consumer loans originated by banks in the country from 2013 to 2019, we document
high borrowing interest rates, which vary systematically with individual’s
characteristics. In particular, even after controlling for several observable
individual attributes (such as income, occupation, and default probabilities,
low-income), individuals pay higher interest rates than high-income borrowers.
Strategies and Initiatives on Digital Financial Inclusion: Lessons from Experiences of APEC Economies
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital financial inclusion with increased digital financial services. Several studies found evidence that the availability of digital financial services is associated with higher GDP and lower income inequality. The task is to find the right balance between enabling financial innovation and addressing risks such as insufficient consumer protection, low levels of financial and digital literacy, unequal access to digital infrastructure, money laundering and cyber risks.