Research has consistently found that married women experienced less intimate partner violence (IP... more Research has consistently found that married women experienced less intimate partner violence (IPV) than cohabiting ones. However, most existing studies focus on the incidence of IPV as a binary indicator, while the severity of that exposure or the different types of violence has been largely ignored. This article begins to address these issues with a multivariate approach, for some Latin American countries. The study reports that married women suffered less violence than cohabiting women for each singular type of violence, even after controlling by education, age, locality, wealth, and personal violence history. This article proposes a novel mechanism that helps to explain these findings: marriage would provide a framework that fosters investment in the quality of the couple's relationship, thus preventing IPV. The estimates on the couple's investments support these predictions.
Improper disposition of single-use plastic bags causes significant environmental impacts. Awarene... more Improper disposition of single-use plastic bags causes significant environmental impacts. Awareness of these detrimental effects has increased, according to the number of policies to reduce the consumption of plastics bags implemented worldwide. Yet, impact evaluations of these initiatives are scarce. This is particularly true for evaluations of the impact of levies on plastic bags. In this paper, we quantify, for the first time, the impact of pricing disposable plastic bags on the quantity used over a one-year time window with respect to a pre-treatment period of no regulation. Specifically, we evaluate the effect of different prices on the number of single-use plastic bags used by customers of a national supermarket chain, before and after it implemented a staggered rollout across the country. Using a difference-indifference identification strategy, we estimate a sizable drop in the demand of single-use plastic bags in the range of 70% to 85%, compared to the control group of branches that did not price plastic bags. These estimates do not change in magnitude and are statistically robust to (i) different specifications of our basic equation, (ii) the use of synthetic controls as an alternative identification strategy, (iii) the estimation of anticipation effects, and (iv) placebo tests. We do not find evidence consistent with the effect been driven by a loss of sales. Our estimates are consistent with the evidence of large elasticities around zero prices found in other settings.
The present study examines a unique database of 724 individuals that informally look after cars p... more The present study examines a unique database of 724 individuals that informally look after cars parked in the streets. The study enriches our knowledge on the relationship between gender and the aggression exerted by these irregular workers on citizens. Employing a multivariate analysis, we find that men tend to commit acts of physical aggression more frequently than women, while women show greater verbal aggressiveness than men, when drivers underpay in this voluntary payment market. The results provided by the present study have implications to understand the dynamics in these understudied sectors and may be a valuable input for social policies. The findings may be useful also for other sectors with significant similarities, that is, those that work in the street doing different tasks in exchange for tips such as cleaning the windshields of the cars or juggling at the traffic lights. These results may shed light to the research and policy design in contexts where vulnerable worker...
Labor: Demographics & Economics of the Family eJournal, 2011
Data collected from the 2006 Uruguayan household survey is used to provide more evidence and revi... more Data collected from the 2006 Uruguayan household survey is used to provide more evidence and revision on the longer-term impact of pre-primary education on subsequent school attendance and accumulated years of education. Previous research found a positive effect both on school attendance and accumulated years of education, and this effect magnify as children grow up. But, thanks to 2006 survey, newer and better data is available and findings about longer-term impact of preschool are different: spreading out preschool education seems to be not enough to cope with school grade repetition in subsequent years, thus new educational options should be studied.
This is the first paper to analyze the effects of intense personal assistance on the compliance w... more This is the first paper to analyze the effects of intense personal assistance on the compliance with labor regulation, within a population of deeply disadvantaged informal workers, using a field experiment. We randomly assign one-on-one assistance to these workers, and, within this treatment group, we randomly assign money to cover the cost of fulfilling the legal requirements to get a permit to work on the streets. One month after the intervention, we find that a worker who receives one-on-one assistance is three times more likely to comply with the legal documentation required by the government than a worker in the control group. We also find that a worker who receives both one-on-one assistance and cost coverage is four times more likely to comply with the legal requirements. The findings of this study shed light on strategies to help highly vulnerable workers to comply with labor regulations. (JEL C93, D04, J46, J62, I30
Resumen. El presente estudio se centra en comparar el comportamiento de los hombres respecto a la... more Resumen. El presente estudio se centra en comparar el comportamiento de los hombres respecto a las mujeres en tres variables claves para los logros educativos: el atraso escolar, la deserción del sistema formal y las tasas de culminación de los distintos niveles educativos. Explotamos la existencia de datos representativos de toda la población de Uruguay durante 24 años (Encuesta Continua de Hogares: 1990-2013) y datos provenientes de la Encuesta Nacional a la Juventud y Adolescencia (2008). El foco está en la adolescencia (de 13 a 18 años), que es donde se concentran los indicadores de turbulencias en materia académica en América Latina. Nuestras mediciones muestran una brecha sistemática, con un signo persistente en todo el período: los adolescentes varones presentan mayores tasas de rezago y deserción, y menores tasas de culminación del ciclo básico y bachillerato. 1
Improper disposition of single-use plastic bags causes significant environmental impacts. Awarene... more Improper disposition of single-use plastic bags causes significant environmental impacts. Awareness of these detrimental effects has increased, according to the number of policies to reduce the consumption of plastics bags implemented worldwide. Yet, impact evaluations of these initiatives are scarce. This is particularly true for evaluations of the impact of levies on plastic bags. In this paper, we quantify, for the first time, the impact of pricing disposable plastic bags on the quantity used over a one-year time window with respect to a pre-treatment period of no regulation. Specifically, we evaluate the effect of different prices on the number of single-use plastic bags used by customers of a national supermarket chain, before and after it implemented a staggered rollout across the country. Using a difference-in-difference identification strategy, we estimate a sizable drop in the demand of single-use plastic bags in the range of 70% to 85%, compared to the control group of bra...
This paper documents the impact of an after-school program called Apoyo Escolar, sited in the mos... more This paper documents the impact of an after-school program called Apoyo Escolar, sited in the most vulnerable neighborhood of a developing country. The outcomes of interest are academic achievement, behavior in the classroom and grade repetition. We designed a field experiment exploiting the existence of oversubscription to the program. We found a novel result that should guide policy design for vulnerable children: increasing time spent in safe, supervised settings does not guarantee academic success. The after-school program is effective in improving academic performance when children have committed parents. This finding is crucial for policy because it is not be enough to merely take children off of the streets, parents’ commitment is needed. Interestingly, results show that students’ performance at school is highly correlated with parents’ educational expectations. This correlation fosters future research that may be designed specifically to explore the causal impact of expectations on educational attainment among disadvantaged children.
How to cite Complete issue More information about this article Journal's homepage in redalyc... more How to cite Complete issue More information about this article Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Scientific Information System
ERN: Latin America & the Caribbean (Development) (Topic), 2017
En el presente estudio, observamos los resultados de una politica de asignacion masiva de derecho... more En el presente estudio, observamos los resultados de una politica de asignacion masiva de derechos de usufructo a los cuidacoches, personas que desempenan –en la informalidad– tareas de vigilancia de vehiculos aparcados en las calles. Sorprendentemente, a pesar del costo reducido y los considerables beneficios de adquirir legalmente el derecho de usufructo sobre la cuadra, la mitad de los potenciales beneficiarios han rechazado la suscripcion a ese programa. Con el fin de entender este mercado y la movilidad entre el sector formal e informal, construimos una base de datos inedita que contiene informacion economica y sociodemografica de los cuidacoches. Dentro de los resultados encontrados, se destacan cuatro observaciones: la heterogeneidad en las razones de entrada al sector informal de cuidacoches; la proteccion del derecho de usufructo sobre la cuadra como el beneficio principal percibido de pasarse al sector formal; la aspiracion a cambiar de trabajo de la inmensa mayoria; la ca...
Research has consistently found that married women experienced less intimate partner violence (IP... more Research has consistently found that married women experienced less intimate partner violence (IPV) than cohabiting ones. However, most existing studies focus on the incidence of IPV as a binary indicator, while the severity of that exposure or the different types of violence has been largely ignored. This article begins to address these issues with a multivariate approach, for some Latin American countries. The study reports that married women suffered less violence than cohabiting women for each singular type of violence, even after controlling by education, age, locality, wealth, and personal violence history. This article proposes a novel mechanism that helps to explain these findings: marriage would provide a framework that fosters investment in the quality of the couple's relationship, thus preventing IPV. The estimates on the couple's investments support these predictions.
Improper disposition of single-use plastic bags causes significant environmental impacts. Awarene... more Improper disposition of single-use plastic bags causes significant environmental impacts. Awareness of these detrimental effects has increased, according to the number of policies to reduce the consumption of plastics bags implemented worldwide. Yet, impact evaluations of these initiatives are scarce. This is particularly true for evaluations of the impact of levies on plastic bags. In this paper, we quantify, for the first time, the impact of pricing disposable plastic bags on the quantity used over a one-year time window with respect to a pre-treatment period of no regulation. Specifically, we evaluate the effect of different prices on the number of single-use plastic bags used by customers of a national supermarket chain, before and after it implemented a staggered rollout across the country. Using a difference-indifference identification strategy, we estimate a sizable drop in the demand of single-use plastic bags in the range of 70% to 85%, compared to the control group of branches that did not price plastic bags. These estimates do not change in magnitude and are statistically robust to (i) different specifications of our basic equation, (ii) the use of synthetic controls as an alternative identification strategy, (iii) the estimation of anticipation effects, and (iv) placebo tests. We do not find evidence consistent with the effect been driven by a loss of sales. Our estimates are consistent with the evidence of large elasticities around zero prices found in other settings.
The present study examines a unique database of 724 individuals that informally look after cars p... more The present study examines a unique database of 724 individuals that informally look after cars parked in the streets. The study enriches our knowledge on the relationship between gender and the aggression exerted by these irregular workers on citizens. Employing a multivariate analysis, we find that men tend to commit acts of physical aggression more frequently than women, while women show greater verbal aggressiveness than men, when drivers underpay in this voluntary payment market. The results provided by the present study have implications to understand the dynamics in these understudied sectors and may be a valuable input for social policies. The findings may be useful also for other sectors with significant similarities, that is, those that work in the street doing different tasks in exchange for tips such as cleaning the windshields of the cars or juggling at the traffic lights. These results may shed light to the research and policy design in contexts where vulnerable worker...
Labor: Demographics & Economics of the Family eJournal, 2011
Data collected from the 2006 Uruguayan household survey is used to provide more evidence and revi... more Data collected from the 2006 Uruguayan household survey is used to provide more evidence and revision on the longer-term impact of pre-primary education on subsequent school attendance and accumulated years of education. Previous research found a positive effect both on school attendance and accumulated years of education, and this effect magnify as children grow up. But, thanks to 2006 survey, newer and better data is available and findings about longer-term impact of preschool are different: spreading out preschool education seems to be not enough to cope with school grade repetition in subsequent years, thus new educational options should be studied.
This is the first paper to analyze the effects of intense personal assistance on the compliance w... more This is the first paper to analyze the effects of intense personal assistance on the compliance with labor regulation, within a population of deeply disadvantaged informal workers, using a field experiment. We randomly assign one-on-one assistance to these workers, and, within this treatment group, we randomly assign money to cover the cost of fulfilling the legal requirements to get a permit to work on the streets. One month after the intervention, we find that a worker who receives one-on-one assistance is three times more likely to comply with the legal documentation required by the government than a worker in the control group. We also find that a worker who receives both one-on-one assistance and cost coverage is four times more likely to comply with the legal requirements. The findings of this study shed light on strategies to help highly vulnerable workers to comply with labor regulations. (JEL C93, D04, J46, J62, I30
Resumen. El presente estudio se centra en comparar el comportamiento de los hombres respecto a la... more Resumen. El presente estudio se centra en comparar el comportamiento de los hombres respecto a las mujeres en tres variables claves para los logros educativos: el atraso escolar, la deserción del sistema formal y las tasas de culminación de los distintos niveles educativos. Explotamos la existencia de datos representativos de toda la población de Uruguay durante 24 años (Encuesta Continua de Hogares: 1990-2013) y datos provenientes de la Encuesta Nacional a la Juventud y Adolescencia (2008). El foco está en la adolescencia (de 13 a 18 años), que es donde se concentran los indicadores de turbulencias en materia académica en América Latina. Nuestras mediciones muestran una brecha sistemática, con un signo persistente en todo el período: los adolescentes varones presentan mayores tasas de rezago y deserción, y menores tasas de culminación del ciclo básico y bachillerato. 1
Improper disposition of single-use plastic bags causes significant environmental impacts. Awarene... more Improper disposition of single-use plastic bags causes significant environmental impacts. Awareness of these detrimental effects has increased, according to the number of policies to reduce the consumption of plastics bags implemented worldwide. Yet, impact evaluations of these initiatives are scarce. This is particularly true for evaluations of the impact of levies on plastic bags. In this paper, we quantify, for the first time, the impact of pricing disposable plastic bags on the quantity used over a one-year time window with respect to a pre-treatment period of no regulation. Specifically, we evaluate the effect of different prices on the number of single-use plastic bags used by customers of a national supermarket chain, before and after it implemented a staggered rollout across the country. Using a difference-in-difference identification strategy, we estimate a sizable drop in the demand of single-use plastic bags in the range of 70% to 85%, compared to the control group of bra...
This paper documents the impact of an after-school program called Apoyo Escolar, sited in the mos... more This paper documents the impact of an after-school program called Apoyo Escolar, sited in the most vulnerable neighborhood of a developing country. The outcomes of interest are academic achievement, behavior in the classroom and grade repetition. We designed a field experiment exploiting the existence of oversubscription to the program. We found a novel result that should guide policy design for vulnerable children: increasing time spent in safe, supervised settings does not guarantee academic success. The after-school program is effective in improving academic performance when children have committed parents. This finding is crucial for policy because it is not be enough to merely take children off of the streets, parents’ commitment is needed. Interestingly, results show that students’ performance at school is highly correlated with parents’ educational expectations. This correlation fosters future research that may be designed specifically to explore the causal impact of expectations on educational attainment among disadvantaged children.
How to cite Complete issue More information about this article Journal's homepage in redalyc... more How to cite Complete issue More information about this article Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Scientific Information System
ERN: Latin America & the Caribbean (Development) (Topic), 2017
En el presente estudio, observamos los resultados de una politica de asignacion masiva de derecho... more En el presente estudio, observamos los resultados de una politica de asignacion masiva de derechos de usufructo a los cuidacoches, personas que desempenan –en la informalidad– tareas de vigilancia de vehiculos aparcados en las calles. Sorprendentemente, a pesar del costo reducido y los considerables beneficios de adquirir legalmente el derecho de usufructo sobre la cuadra, la mitad de los potenciales beneficiarios han rechazado la suscripcion a ese programa. Con el fin de entender este mercado y la movilidad entre el sector formal e informal, construimos una base de datos inedita que contiene informacion economica y sociodemografica de los cuidacoches. Dentro de los resultados encontrados, se destacan cuatro observaciones: la heterogeneidad en las razones de entrada al sector informal de cuidacoches; la proteccion del derecho de usufructo sobre la cuadra como el beneficio principal percibido de pasarse al sector formal; la aspiracion a cambiar de trabajo de la inmensa mayoria; la ca...
There has been little research on the association between behaviors, gender
and usufruct rights i... more There has been little research on the association between behaviors, gender and usufruct rights in informal settings. Using a unique database from an underprivileged population, who informally look after cars parked in the streets, we analyze the behaviors women and men exhibit when they interact with other people in the street. We find that men tend to commit acts of physical aggression more than women when they have to defend their usufruct right. But, surprisingly, though theory and applied literature suggests the contrary, we found that women are more likely to react aggressively than men, when drivers underpay in this voluntary payment market. Building a Type Index of cuidacoches (indicator of attitude and external appearance), we explore association between aggressive behavior and this Type Index.
We study the three-year impact of a private tuition-free middle school on the academic outcomes o... more We study the three-year impact of a private tuition-free middle school on the academic outcomes of poor students. Several features of the treatment school fit with innovative paradigms that have delivered successful outcomes in poor urban areas. Our research design exploits the excess of applicants over the school capacity and the fact that participants were selected randomly. Specifically, we follow a cohort of students that entered middle school in 2010 and that were randomly assigned to attend the treatment school or public school as usual. We find that the treatment school impacted favorably on students’ academic advancement and math competencies. Also, the treatment school had a positive–and quite robust over timeimpact on students’ and their parents’ academic expectations. This culture of high expectations has been previously identified in the literature as a key input for school success.
This is the first paper to analyze the effects of intense personal assistance on the compliance w... more This is the first paper to analyze the effects of intense personal assistance on the compliance with labor regulation, within a population of deeply disadvantaged informal workers, using a field experiment. We randomly assign one-on-one assistance to these workers, and, within this treatment group, we randomly assign money to cover the cost of fulfilling the legal requirements to get a permit to work on the streets. One month after the intervention, we find that a worker who receives one-on-one assistance is three times more likely to comply with the legal documentation required by the government than a worker in the control group. We also find that a worker who receives both one-on-one assistance and cost coverage is four times more likely to comply with the legal requirements. The findings of this study shed light on strategies to help highly vulnerable workers to comply with labor regulations.
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Papers by Alejandro Cid
and usufruct rights in informal settings. Using a unique database from
an underprivileged population, who informally look after cars parked in
the streets, we analyze the behaviors women and men exhibit when they
interact with other people in the street. We find that men tend to commit
acts of physical aggression more than women when they have to defend
their usufruct right. But, surprisingly, though theory and applied literature
suggests the contrary, we found that women are more likely to react
aggressively than men, when drivers underpay in this voluntary payment
market. Building a Type Index of cuidacoches (indicator of attitude and
external appearance), we explore association between aggressive behavior
and this Type Index.