Finance & Economy
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Is Pooled Financing a Magic Bullet?
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Today, many developing countries need infrastructure financing to accommodate massive influxes of rural populations to metropolitan areas. Between 2010 and 2030, there will be demand for $15.8 trillion in infrastructure in Asia, $1.3 trillion in emerging Europe, and $1.2 trillion in Latin America. Typical infrastructure investment is the responsibility of…
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Advancing Financial Inclusion for Women: An Interview with Mary Ellen Iskenderian
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Financial inclusion remains one of the biggest global challenges. This is particularly crucial for the 43% of women worldwide who still do not have an account at a financial institution. Technological development is helping surmount previously intractable barriers and has opened many attractive investment opportunities to advance financial services for…
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Does Economic Growth Help or Hinder Poverty Alleviation? A Case Study From Mexico
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The uneven distribution of globalization-driven economic growth has led researchers to question whether growth actually decreases poverty and inequality. They have tried to answer questions such as: Does growth affect poverty at all? Is growth sufficient to reduce poverty? What conditions must exist for the growth of a country to be pro-poor?…
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Up in Smoke: How Cigarette Taxes Affect Public Assistance Enrollment
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Policymakers use tax penalties and incentives as a mechanism to modify the public’s behavior. Cigarette taxes are one of the most obvious examples of such a policy. As a matter of public health, society would be better off if fewer people smoked cigarettes—raising the cost of cigarettes with a tax…
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Incentive Structures, Central Banks, and Economic Policies: A Conversation with Raghuram Rajan
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Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). From September 2013 to September 2016, he was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Prior…
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NAFTA and the Mixed Effects of Trade: A Mexican Case Study
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In August 2017, the United States, Canada, and Mexico began renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—one of President Trump’s top priorities during his electoral campaign. Trump argued that trade with Mexico and Canada had resulted in job losses and trade deficits, particularly with Mexico. Negotiations are scheduled…
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Comparing Immigration Policies Under the IMPALA Database
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A person’s decision to migrate is affected by various economic, political, and social factors not only in the country of origin (push factors), but also in the destination country (pull factors). More specifically, push factors are elements that cause people to leave their country of origin and pull factors attract…
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Foreign Exchange Interventions: A Comparison of the Mexican and Brazilian Models
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Over the past several years, foreign exchange rates among Latin American countries have fluctuated significantly. These oscillations have been caused by several factors, including the U.S. presidential elections, changing oil prices, the Taper Tantrum (the expectation of a reduction in bond purchases by the Federal Reserve), interest rate hikes by…
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Reviewing the Research on National Maternity Leave Policies and their Effects on Women’s Careers, Children’s Health, and Employers’ Bottom Line
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In 2015, women surpassed men in their likelihood of holding a bachelor’s degree. The gender pay gap has been steadily closing since 1973 but remains persistent. One potential avenue for reducing this gap is further support for women with children, particularly in the form of maternity leave. To provide perspective…
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Immigration and Jobs: David Card’s Influential Study
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A chief concern of modern policy is the impact of immigrants on natives’ employment prospects. The difficulty for academics attempting to verify these effects is daunting. In the real world, immigrants arrive from and disperse throughout many areas, choosing cities with favorable labor market conditions. Meanwhile, large macroeconomic events also…
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Does Personal Experience Affect Monetary Policy Decisions?
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Will the central bank in the United States reduce or maintain the current interest rate? Do statements made by the Board Chair suggest a possible increase in the interest rate? What is the central bank´s forecast for inflation and employment in the medium-term? Every day, international financial markets are highly…