Abstract

In Mexico, crime has increased and diversified over the last 20 years, but we have few theoretical, empirically verified, explanations. Here I explore a way of explaining violent crime in municipalities with more than 100, 000 inhabitants, taking intentional homicide in 2011 as the observable variable. I start from explanations of crime based on poverty and inequality. To this end, I problematize this type of explanations and run regression models testing the hypotheses of poverty or inequality as the explanatory variable. At the end I discuss the results obtained and propose a new research design that overcomes the limitations of the one carried out and the dilemma posed in the title.

Abstract

Romania aims to be a country in which all citizens are provided with an equal opportunity toparticipate in society, where their basic needs are met and their differences respected, and whereall people feel valued and can live in dignity.Our society is still far from this ideal. One in every five Romanian people is income poor. Most of the people living in relative poverty in Romania are in persistent poverty, meening that they have been in poverty for at least the last three years. Despite its relatively low unemployment rate, the country has a very high rate of poverty for in-work people, which is double the EU-27 rate (9 percent). As a response to this situation, the Government of Romania (GoR) has committed itself to lifting 580,000 people out of poverty by 20205 as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy.By 2020, Romania is committed to putting in place a set of policies and programs to (i) lift at least 580,000 people out of relative income poverty by 2020, compared to 2008; (ii) break the inter-generational cycle of poverty; (iii) prevent the recurrence of poverty and social exclusion; and (iv) ensure equal access to social assistance, cash transfers and services to strengthen social cohesion.the GoR asked for the World Bank’s support to develop detailed implementation plans for the 2015-2018 period in the form of nine Flagship Innitiatives that are expected to have the greatest impact in terms of reducing poverty and promoting social inclusion. This Atlas of Rural Marginalized Areas and Local Human Development in Romania represents the Flagship Initiative develop an instrument to identify poor villages and marginalized rural communities. Specifically the Bank’s technical assistance provided through this project has helped the GoR to develop: (i) a methodology for defining different types of rural marginalized areas based on a set of key criteria and indicators; (ii) detailed maps that present the spatial distribution of the rural marginalized communities by county; (iii) a methodology for defining degrees of local human development from low to comprehensive development, for rural and small urban settlements; and (iv) detailed county-level maps of local human development. In short, the Atlas helps to define which rural areas are marginalized, who lives in these areas (the profile of various disadvantaged groups), and where they are located in Romania. Document type: Book

Abstract

Using all the household survey data available in Latin America during the period 1992 to 2013, this paper estimates that in 2015, 20 million youth ages 15 to 24 years in the region were out of school and not working (making them ninis, for "ni estudian ni trabajan"). The share of out-of–school, out-of-work youth in Latin America, at about 19 percent, is roughly equal to the global average of 22 percent. Although women make up over two-thirds of the ninis in the region, the number of male ninis grew by 46 percent between 1992 and 2010. As a result, the absolute number of ninis rose over the two-decade period, even as women's education and employment rates were improving. Global comparisons show that Latin America is the region of the world with the largest concentration of ninis among households in the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. Coupled with the long-lasting harm it causes to the youth's future labor-market outcomes, the high incidence of ninis among the poorest households tends to lock in income disparities from one generation to the next, obstructing social mobility and poverty reduction in the region. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper looks at how individual preferences for the allocation of government spending change along the life cycle. Using the Life in Transition Survey II for 34 countries in Europe and Central Asia, the study finds that older individuals are less likely to support a rise in government outlays on education and more likely to support increases in spending on pensions. These results are very similar across countries, and they do not change when using alternative model specifications, estimation methods, and data sources. Using repeated cross-sections, the analysis controls for cohort effects and confirms the main results. The findings are consistent with a body of literature arguing that conflict across generations over the allocation of public expenditures may intensify in ageing economies. Document type: Article

Abstract

Driving restriction programs have been implemented in many cities around the world to alleviate pollution and congestion problems. Enforcement of such programs is costly and can potentially displace policing resources used for crime prevention and crime detection. Hence, driving restrictions may increase crime. To test this hypothesis, this paper exploits both temporal and spatial variation in the implementation of Quito, Ecuador's Pico y Placa program and evaluates its effect on crime. Both difference-in-difference and spatial regression discontinuity estimates provide credible evidence that driving restrictions can increase crime rates. Document type: Article