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In the context of the current global trends such as polarization of social groups and intensified poverty, there is a serious risk that gender gaps in access to shelter widen among the poor to the detriment of women's social, economic, and personal well-being. Paradoxically, these conditions also provide certain opportunities for women, including their greater community-based mobilization and leadership role. This paper examines these risks and the opportunities they bear upon and stresses the need for intervention in four areas of rights, access, security, and empowerment. The paper draws on a participatory research project carried out by the United Nations Gender and Habitat program in 1992 to 1999 in low-income settlements of Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the MASCOT/WOTRO multinational team conducting the maternal health literature mapping, four Latin American researchers were particularly interested in analysing information specific to their region. The mapping started with 45,959 papers uploaded from MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, LILACAS, PopLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Knowledge. From these, 4175 full texts were reviewed and 2295 papers were subsequently included. Latin America experienced an average maternal mortality decline of 40% between 1990 and 2013. Nevertheless, the region's performance was below the global average and short of the 75% reduction set in Millennium Development Goal 5 for 2015. The main outcomes show that research on maternal health in the countries where the most impoverished populations of the world are living is not always aligned with their compelling needs. From another perspective, the review made it possible to recognize that research funding as well as the amount of scientific literature produced concentrate on issues that are not necessarily among the main causes of maternal deaths. Even though research on maternal health in Latin America has grown from an average of 92.5 publications per year in 2000-2003 to 236.7 between 2008 and 2012, it's not satisfactorily keeping pace with other regions. In conclusion, it is critical to effectively orient research funding and production to respond to the health needs of the population. At the same time, there is a need for innovative mechanisms to strengthen the production and uptake of scientific evidence that can properly inform public health decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), low levels of formal maternal educational are positively associated with breastfeeding whereas the reverse is true among women with higher levels of formal education. As such, breastfeeding has helped to reduce health equity gaps between rich and poor children. Our paper examines trends in breastfeeding and formula consumption by maternal educational in LMICs over nearly two decades., Methods: We used 319 nationally representative surveys from 81 countries. We used WHO definitions for breastfeeding indicators and categorized maternal education into three categories: none, primary, and secondary or higher. We grouped countries according to the World Bank income groups and UNICEF regions classifications. The trend analyses were performed through multilevel linear regression to obtain average absolute annual changes in percentage points., Results: Significant increases in prevalence were observed for early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding across all education categories, but more prominently in women with no formal education for early breastfeeding and in higher level educated women for exclusive breastfeeding. Small decreases in prevalence were seen mostly for women with no formal education for continued breastfeeding at 1 and 2 years. Among formula indicators, only formula consumption between 6 and 23 months decreased significantly over the period for women with primary education. Analysis by world regions demonstrated that gains in early and exclusive breastfeeding were almost universally distributed among education categories, except in the Middle East and North Africa where they decreased throughout education categories. Continued breastfeeding at 1 and 2 years increased in South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia for primary or higher education categories. Declines occurred for the group of no formal education in South Asia and nearly all education categories in the Middle East and North Africa with a decline steeper for continued breastfeeding at 2 years. With a few exceptions, the use of formula is higher among children of women at the highest education level in all regions., Conclusions: Over the course of our study, women with no formal education have worsening breastfeeding indicators compared to women with primary and secondary or higher education.

Precision oncology is the field that places emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of tumors that harbor specific genomic alterations susceptible to inhibition or modulation. Although most alterations are only present in a minority of patients, a substantial effect on survival can be observed in this subgroup. Mass genome sequencing has led to the identification of a specific driver in the translocations of the tropomyosin receptor kinase family (NTRK) in a subset of rare tumors both in children and in adults, and to the development and investigation of Larotrectinib. This medication was granted approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for NTRK-positive tumors, regardless of histology or age group, as such, larotrectinib was the first in its kind to be approved under the premise that molecular pattern is more important than histology in terms of therapeutic approach. It yielded significant results in disease control with good tolerability across a wide range of diseases including rare pediatric tumors, salivary gland tumors, gliomas, soft-tissue sarcomas, and thyroid carcinomas. In addition, and by taking different approaches in clinical trial design and conducting allocation based on biomarkers, the effects of target therapies can be isolated and quantified. Moreover, and considering developing nations and resource-limited settings, precision oncology could offer a tool to reduce cancer-related disability and hospital costs. In addition, developing nations also present patients with rare tumors that lack a chance of treatment, outside of clinical trials. This, in turn, offers the possibility for international collaboration, and contributes to employment, education, and health service provisions. The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.

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The adoption of the shared prosperity goal by the World Bank in 2013 and Sustainable Development Goal 10, on inequality, by the United Nations in 2015 should strengthen the focus of development interventions and cooperation on the income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. This paper contributes to the incipient literature on within-country allocations of development institutions and assesses the geographic targeting of World Bank projects to the bottom 40 percent. Bivariate correlations between the allocation of project funding approved over 2005-14 and the geographical distribution of the bottom 40 as measured by survey income or consumption data are complemented by regressions with population and other potential factors affecting the within-country allocations as controls. The correlation analysis shows that, of the 58 countries in the sample, 41 exhibit a positive correlation between the shares of the bottom 40 and World Bank funding, and, in almost half of these, the correlation is above 0.5. Slightly more than a quarter of the countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, exhibit a negative correlation. The regression analysis shows that, once one controls for population, the correlation between the bottom 40 and World Bank funding switches sign and becomes significant and negative on average. This is entirely driven by Sub-Saharan Africa and not observed in the other regions. Hence, the significant and positive correlation in the estimations without controlling for population suggests that World Bank project funding is concentrated in administrative areas in which more people live (including the bottom 40) rather than in poorer administrative areas. Furthermore, capital cities receive disproportionally high shares of World Bank funding on average., Competing Interests: I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Lodewijk Smets was a staff member of the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank at the time this paper was written. Renzo Massari was a consultant for the World Bank. Željko Bogetić is a staff member of the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank. We confirm that these associations in no way influenced our analysis. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

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Copyright of Redes (1414-7106) is the property of Associacao Pro-Ensino em Santa Cruz do Sul - APESC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Labor informality and poverty are at high levels in Latin America. In developing countries, poverty and the labor market are related not through unemployment but through employment. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between labor informality and poverty in Colombia. To do so, earnings gaps associated with labor informality are estimated; then, the effect of formalization on poverty is calculated, as the influence of changes in labor informality on Colombia's poverty reduction from 2002 to 2013. The findings show that the earnings gap between formal and informal workers is 37–44%, and if informality were eliminated, poverty would decrease by approximately 40%. However, even though informality has great potential to reduce poverty, its actual effect on Colombia's poverty reduction in the years analyzed was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Iberoamericana de Ciencia, Tecnologia y Sociedad is the property of Centro de Estudios sobre Ciencia, Desarrollo y Educacion Superior and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses the historical trajectories of South-South and triangular cooperation and its dimensions in Latin America. Based on this information, the paper intends to assess the framework’s role as an instrument of public diplomacy in developing countries, which enables participating countries to strengthen their international presence and establish strategic alliances with other countries. Building on the theoretical perspective of the framework, the study analyzes specific Cuban cases of South-South cooperation, linking them with the characteristic elements of public diplomacy, and assesses their impact on international development cooperation. In conclusion, the paper contends that Cuba and South Korea should explore the possible concrete links between the elements of international development cooperation and those of public diplomacy, and seek opportunities to foster South-South cooperation as part of public diplomacy. This will help developing countries to discover and establish new forms of exchanges between them and strengthen their cooperative relations with partner countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents several comments on Stephanie Schmitt-Grohe and Martin Uribe's paper "Stabilization Policy and the Costs of Dollarization," which was published in the May 2001 issue of this journal. According to the author the paper focuses on how alternative monetary policies affect economic fluctuations. The choices by monetary authorities have welfare costs, such as devaluation and dollarization. He praises the paper for its attempt to bring empircial data to bear in the debate over the efficacy of dollarization.

The paper reviews the main challenges faced by policymakers in emerging market economies, EMs, in light of recent financial crises, and taking into account salient factors like the existence of partial dollarization, imperfect credibility, weak financial systems, and contagion. The standard theory of optimal currency areas is discussed and criticized for omitting the above factors. When these factors are taken into account, an extreme foreign exchange regime like dollarization is shown to become much more attractive. The paper discusses the pros and cons of dollarization and, among other things, shows that the lack of a lender of last resort is not necessarily a major drawback in EMs. The paper also discusses inflation targeting, IT. In a formal model, it is shown that IT could be subject to credibility problems similar to those found in exchange rate-based stabilization programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper makes a comparative study of the socio-state capacities developed during the processes of institutionalising protected natural areas (PNA) in Latin America. It sets them within a framework of their interdependence with global governance processes and in relation to the role human rights have played for these purposes. Taking an approach that combines analysis of multilevel collective action with process monitoring, this work traces the trajectories of national and multilateral institutions; analyses the main dynamics that arise in the delimitation of the protection of natural areas in the countries with the greatest biodiversity in the region; and explores the possibilities for new agreements on the global agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Industrial Relations / Relations Industrielles is the property of Universite Laval, Department of Industrial Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recent crises in East Asia and Latin America have raised questions about the conduct of macroeconomic policy in developing countries. But what is the scope for macroeconomic management in developing countries? Should international financial institutions that assist developing countries rely heavily on it? This paper investigates these issues. It concludes that, while the scope for tight macroeconomic control may be limited in some countries, appropriate structural reform could make the traditional macroeconomic policy tools more effective in the long run. This finding has important implications for reforming the International Monetary Fund. Although conducting macroeconomic policy is not a piece of cake, it should not prove to be an impossible mission if it is accompanied, or even preceded, by measures to strengthen the supply side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In middle-income countries, vaccines against pneumococcal disease, rotavirus, and human papilloma virus are in general more costly, not necessarily cost saving, and less consistently cost-effective than earlier generation vaccines against measles, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. Budget impact is also substantial; public spending on vaccines in countries adopting new vaccines is, on average, double the amount of countries that have not adopted. Policymakers must weigh the costs and benefits of the adoption decision carefully, given the low coverage of other kinds of cost-effective health and nonhealth interventions in these same settings and relatively flat overall public spending on health as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) over time. Objective This paper considers lessons learned from recent vaccine cost-effectiveness analyses and subsequent adoption decisions in Latin America a, largely under the auspices of the Pro Vac Initiative. Results The paper illustrates how small methodological choices and seemingly minor technical limitations of cost-effectiveness models can have major implications for the studies’ conclusions, potentially influencing countries’ subsequent vaccine adoption decisions. Methods We evaluate the ProVac models and technical outputs against the standards and framework set out by the International Decision Support Initiative Reference Case for economic evaluation and consider the practical effects of deviations from those standards. Conclusions Lessons learned are discussed, including issues of appropriate comparators, GDP-based thresholds, and use of average versus incremental cost-effectiveness ratios as a convention are assessed. The article ends with recommendations for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does the reception of remittances change the views of those left behind? In this paper, we compare the impact of financial remittances (transmission of money) with the impact of social remittances (transmission of ideas and values) on preferences about the role of the state in the economy (in particular, the role of the state in creating jobs, reducing inequality, and securing citizens' well-being). Using data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (2008-2010), we find that social learning via cross-border communication is positively associated with preference for an enhanced role of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin American performance during the global financial crisis was unprecedented. Many developing and emerging countries successfully weathered the worst crisis since the Great Depression. Was it good luck? Was it good policies? This paper compares growth during the Asian and global financial crises. It finds that a looser monetary policy played an important role in mitigating crisis. It also finds that higher private credit, more financial openness, less trade openness, and greater exchange rate intervention worsened economic performance. Better macroeconomic management was key to good economic performance, which is confirmed by our analysis of Latin American countries. Finally, there is also evidence for the sample of 31 emerging markets that high terms of trade had a positive impact on resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We aim to propose the thesis that the trajectories of the Anthropocene and the current mainstream understandings of development are intertwined from the beginning. It means that the Anthropocene and the "development" are coetaneous: the implementation of development policies for the so-considered underdeveloped regions started to happen at the same time of what is known as The Great Acceleration of production, consumption and environmental degradation in a global level. Method: In this conceptual paper, we adopt a decolonial critique as an analytical lens and argue that different geopolitical positions may be necessary for approaching the issue of the Anthropocene from epistemological reflections that can include the cultural and political context of the production and reproduction of local knowledge. Results: Our theoretical argumentation sheds light on the role of Global North and South relations in shaping the environmental crisis. Latin America (LA) exemplifies the modus operandi of the intertwinement of the practical effects of development policies and the environmental consequences underlying the Anthropocene, in which natural resources are over-explored to satisfy export-oriented trade, from the South toward the North. LA is not only a propitious context to show the validity of our thesis, but also the source of alternatives to such developmental model. Conclusion: The emphasis on development as a cause of the Anthropocene supports The Great Acceleration thesis. The proposition of the name Developmentocene comes from the thesis that development and Anthropocene are coetaneous, the intertwinement of both resulting in the very definition of the new epoch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the welfare costs of business cycles in a dollarized economy to those arising in economies in which monetary policy takes the form of inflation targeting, money growth rate pegs, or devaluation rate rules. The analysis is conducted within an optimizing model of a small open economy with sticky prices. The model is calibrated to the Mexican economy and is driven by three external shocks terms of trade, world interest rate, and import-price inflation. The welfare comparisons suggest that dollarization is the least successful of the monetary policies considered. Agents are willing to give up between 0.1 and 0.3 percent of their nonstochastic steady-state consumption to see a policy other than dollarization implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents several comments to Enrique G. Mendoza's paper "The Benefits of Dollarization When Stabilization Policy Lacks Credibility and Financial Markets are Imperfect," which was published in the May 2001 issue of this journal. Several topics are discussed, including the dollarization versus stabilization of inflation, the public welfare gains of economic stabilization in steady state versus the public welfare gains including the transition, and the role of uncertainty in the evaluation of the benefits of stabilization.

Background: Latin America has among the highest rates of intimate partner violence. While there is increasing evidence that intimate partner violence is associated with mental health problems, there is little such research for developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Bolivian women's experiences with physical, psychological, and sexual intimate partner violence and mental health outcomes. Methods: This study analyzes data from the 2008 Bolivia Demographic and Health Survey. 10,119 married or cohabiting women ages 15-49 are included in the analysis. Probit regression models are used to assess the association between intimate partner violence and mental health, after controlling for other demographic factors and partner characteristics. The questionnaire uses selected questions from the SRQ-20 to measure symptoms of mental health problems. Results: Intimate partner violence is common in Bolivia, with 47% of women experiencing some type of spousal abuse in the 12 months before the survey. Women exposed to physical spousal violence in the past year are more likely to experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, and psychotic disorders, after controlling for other demographic and partner characteristics. Women who experienced sexual abuse by a partner are most likely to suffer from all mental health issues. Psychological abuse is also associated with an increased risk of experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychogenic seizures. Women who experienced only psychological abuse report mental health problems similar to those who were physically abused. Conclusion: This study demonstrates an urgent need for research on the prevalence and health consequences of psychological abuse in developing countries. Our findings highlight the need for mental health services for victims of intimate partner violence. Because physical and psychological violence are often experienced concurrently, it is recommended that health providers who are treating victims of physical intimate partner violence also screen them for symptoms of potential mental health problems and refer them to appropriate mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Administración is the property of Universidad del Valle and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose - This paper's aim is to evaluate the effect of the use of information technology and communications (ITC) on the international competitiveness of firms in developing countries. The study also seeks to evaluate other factors that allow or condition the use of ITC such as: human resources, collaboration of the industrial sector, and local environment. Design/methodology/approach - These effects are examined through an empirical research of 100 small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a developing country - Peru. Findings - SMEs from developing countries follow an isomorphic approach. This is because they tend to imitate or copy the better practices from developed countries. The results have shown that ITCs have a positive effect on the international competitiveness of firms. Research limitations/implications - A limitation is the cross-sectional character of this research. Practical implications - Firms use ITC to manage their inventory, for the communication between manufacturers and offices, and suppliers, for bill payments, and for the management of sales and marketing, and for the management of their networks. Originality/value - According to the literature reviewed, this study is one of the pioneers in contrasting empirically whether the use of ITC contributes positively to the international competitiveness of firms in the developing countries of Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Problemas del Desarrollo. Revista Latinoamericana de Economía is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Instituto de Investigaciones Economicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Balkan capitalism has been classified as: Coordinated, Liberal, Mediterranean and as a version of the region itself. Nevertheless, such classifications do not consider the hierarchical economy levels of the region, which for developing countries is a very important feature. Schneider classified the Latin American economies as hierarchical and points out such classification could be applied to middle-income economies of other regions of the world. The aim of the paper is to show that Balkan economies can be considered as hierarchical. To do that, we estimate a Hierarchical Economy index to both regions (Balkans and Latin America). Besides, we test the relationship between inequality and the hierarchical levels (suggested by Schneider). Results show Balkan economies can be classified as hierarchical, because their hierarchical economy indexes are similar to those presented by Latin American economies and there is a negative relationship between inequality and the hierarchical levels among middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hardly a sector of economic activity has remained untouched by the trend of inter-firm collaboration, particularly among large enterprises, but it seems to remain uncommon among many SMEs especially in some developing countries. The advantages of the SMEs of being faster and flexible are clouded by the lack of resources and skills to develop businesses in the network. Successful development in some economies, mainly in Asia, has been based on effective linkage participation of SMEs as a strategy to cover the scarcities they face. This strategy is now playing an important role on the agenda in many countries in Latin America, but there is still a lack of information to make this strategy more popular among SMEs in these countries. Traditional literature in developed countries has been focused on large companies to explain what makes an alliance successful, how the relationship alliance partners should be, which structure of the alliance or the type of contract may make or break an alliance but, few researches have explored alliance as a strategy to develop SMEs. The critical role of decision-making process regarding to the choice of being engaging into an alliance deserves particular research attention. This paper is focused on the alliance decision making process with specially emphasis on SMEs. The main contribution is to provide a framework of different factors that have influenced alliance decision making process. Based on Social Capital and Social Exchange, this research concentrates his analysis on a sample of SMEs from Mexico in which both, experienced and inexperienced alliances entrepreneurs, were considered. Our proposal included twelve variables which were analyzed to find their impact on the alliance decision making. The results show that the internal alliance initiative, frequently enterprise diagnose, trust based on partners' prestige and smaller or similar characteristics of potential partners have strong influence on positive alliance decision making. Opposite expected characteristics were found between alliance experienced entrepreneurs and alliance inexperienced entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian & Latin American Economic History is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While the international community, through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is promoting a global policy of Education for All (EFA), Cuba stands out as a beacon to other developing countries that have so far been unable to achieve their EFA goals. This paper presents a regional quantitative comparison of eleven Latin American and Caribbean countries--Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela--showing that Cuba excels in comparison to her neighboring Latin American and Caribbean countries in a majority of measurable characteristics of education implementation and outcomes. Cuba is also shown to have the highest overall UNESCO EFA ranking among Latin American and non-English speaking Caribbean countries and the only one currently meeting the UNESCO EFA goals. This paper will also show, in contrast, that the government of the United States has published highly detailed and specific plans to appropriate and substantially transform Cuba's education system given the political opportunity. With the changes in Cuba's leadership and apparent anticipation by the United States government of potential political instability in Cuba's foreseeable future, along with inexplicable inconsistencies between Cuba's outstanding education record and the recommendations by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, it is important and relevant to ask the question, "Why does the United States want to interfere in Cuba's education system, and what is potentially to be lost?" [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a semiparametric model to analyze the impact of an increase in the real minimum wage on inequality in Colombia between 1995 and 1999 and in Paraguay between 1993 and 2000–2001. Simulations suggest that if the employment effects of the minimum wage increase are ignored, the underlying policies would contribute to reduce earnings inequality in Colombia and would be inequality neutral in Paraguay. By considering the drop in wages of those who lost their jobs, simulations suggest that in both countries the policy in question would increase earnings inequality under some assumptions about the employment elasticity of the minimum wage and the new level of earnings unemployed workers rely upon. While these findings do not mean that minimum wage increases in LDCs (Less Developed Countries) necessarily have adverse distributional affects, they suggest that minimum wage policy should be implemented with care depending on how sensitive employment is to wage increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the process of implementing strategic information systems (SIS) by studying the radical changes it may bring to an organization's deep structure. It argues that a full understanding of the process of implementation of such systems should include not only technical aspects but also the social dynamics of an organization; specifically core values, distribution of power and mechanisms of control. A theoretical framework is formulated based on punctuated equilibrium and previous SIS literature, and is applied to an exploratory case study conducted in a Latin American public organization. The case study depicts how the initiative to implement SIS was the result of external and internal disturbances. The case analysis highlights relationships between an organization's deep structure and SIS implementation. The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of the study. These include (1) the role of the formal organizational structure in influencing the outcome of SIS implementations, (2) the impact of exogenous contingencies such as elections and external funding that may create a sense of crisis and (3) the influence of newcomers who may be brought in to solve the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To understand the drivers behind small-scale retailers' collective success, even after a decade of sustained growth of the "modern" retail sector in Latin America. Design/methodology/approach - The study described in this paper was sponsored by the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council - Latin America. Consumer research for this study was based both on primary and secondary sources. To understand the drivers behind small-scale retailers' collective success, standard frameworks were adapted for evaluating their value proposition and business model. Customer-facing value drivers were examined along with selected ratios from the strategic resource model. Findings - In spite of being "poor," emerging consumers have a substantial purchasing power as a group. They work with a very specific set of products, categories and store format needs that distinguish them from other consumers. These distinct needs imply that it is not "just a matter of money and time" for them to change their purchasing patterns over to the "modern trade". In fact, the evidence shows that smaller scale retailers fit the needs of emerging consumers quite well. Despite perceptions that the small retail sector draws its resilience from informality, we conclude that that the sector can be surprisingly efficient. Furthermore, the retailers exhibit a sustainable business model. Originality/value - Although a wide variety of studies have been developed around small-scale retailers, less effort has been devoted to learn about local storekeepers that are actually conducting successful business, especially in reference to less developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past economic development efforts have over-emphasized production problems and neglected marketing problems. The thesis of this article is that marketing "barriers" exist which impede economic growth in developing Latin American societies. The author describes a systems approach for inducing national market development and facilitating economic progress through selective reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares Central-Eastern European transition economies with the OECD members and some countries from Latin America. Recognizing very big differences in their GNP per capita level, the income redistribution is in the focus of the analysis. The similarity of government expenditure structure and taxation is measured and characteristic differences are identified using multivariate statistical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the paths taken by developing countries to improve the health and well-being of their populations in a context of diminishing resources is discussed. Emphasis is placed on Latin American countries and the objective is to clarify the changing nature of the relationship between health and social well-being in the 1970s and 1980s. In the second part of the paper three viable and different political scenarios to confront this problem are presented: 1) survival without well-being; 2) survival and eradication of extreme poverty, and 3) survival, eradication of extreme poverty, and selective reconversion of the poor.

Copyright of Ornithological Applications is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The growth of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in developing countries over the last decade has attracted an intense academic and policy-oriented interest for its determinants. Despite the gravity model being considered a useful tool to approximate bilateral FDI flows, the literature has seen a growing debate in relation to its econometric specification, so that which is the best estimator for the gravity equation is far from conclusive. This paper examines the determinants of German outward FDI in Latin America and Asia for the period 1996-2012 by evaluating the performance of alternative Generalized Linear Model (GLM) estimators. Our findings indicate that Negative Binomial Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (NBPML) is the estimator best matched to our data, followed by Gamma Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (GPML). Furthermore, German FDI in Latin America is found to be predominantly vertical in nature, whereas that in Asia is mainly market-seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding a woman's future contraceptive needs and enhancing her chances of putting those needs into action depend heavily on her intentions to use contraceptive methods. However, there is little information about global perspectives of intention to utilise contraceptives among fecund sexually active women. This study examines the patterns and determinants of contraception intention of fecund sexually active women. The most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 59 countries were used for secondary data analysis. The DHSs applied a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from women between the ages of 15 and 49. The study comprises a sample of 697,590 fecund sexually active women in the reproductive ages. The desire to utilise contraceptive methods was examined using a multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. All analyses were weighted to allow for a complex survey design. A pooled prevalence of intention to utilise contraception was 42.8% (95% CI: 42.5, 43.1) at the global level. Eastern and Southern Europe had the lowest prevalence, 17.3% (95% CI: 16.4, 18.2), and the highest prevalence was observed in countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, 68.0% (95% CI: 67.5, 69.9). Attaining secondary-level education (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.62–1.72) or higher (aOR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.63–1.80), working (aOR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.18–1.24), experience of a pregnancy loss (aOR = 1.06; 95% CI: 1.03–1.09), or being exposed to media family planning messages (aOR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.48–1.55) were factors associated with an increased likelihood of intent to use contraceptives. The study has established that contraceptive use intention was low in many developing countries. Education, age, employment status, fertility preference, and exposure to family planning messages influenced contraceptive use intention. Health policy-makers ought to consider these factors when designing sexual and reproductive health strategies in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the background, methodology, results, and lessons learned from SaluDerecho, the Initiative on Priority Setting, Equity and Constitutional Mandates in Health. Originally facilitated by the capacity-building arm of the World Bank in 2010, it was implemented in Latin American countries and later expanded to other regions of the world. Segmentation, decentralization, and lack of coordination in health systems; weak information systems; stratified societies; and hierarchical power relations in participating countries are some of the characteristics that inhibit a human rights- based approach to health. Hence, deliberate interventions like SaluDerecho are vital. Facilitating the participation of multiple stakeholders in a more informed and transparent dialogue creates a "safe" working environment to co-create policy solutions to improve transparency and accountability. The proposed evaluation methodology involves several steps that begin with an assessment of behavioral changes in actors (including policy makers, citizens, payers, and health care providers) that reshape relationships and, over time, change the functioning of health systems. Despite certain limitations, SaluDerecho has provided evidence of positive change among participating countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Bank is an important external funder of health aid to developing countries. However, many accounts of health sector change and reform do not account for the role that international financial institutions may play in these policy changes. In this paper, I review the World Bank's health policies since 1975, discussing its changing role and policies for developing countries' health policies. I then summarize the existing empirical evidence for the effect of the World Bank in developing countries' health sectors, focusing on Latin American countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The empirical evidence about the temporal precedence between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth in open developing economies is mixed. In this research effort, we explored the FDI-growth nexus for 16 developing countries of Latin American and the Caribbean countries during the last three decades, a period in which many of these countries introduced various economic and financial reforms. As a departure from many previous studies, the current analysis uses the Granger noncausality test procedure recently developed by Toda and Yamamoto (J Econ 66:225–250, 1995 ), and Dolado and Lutkepohl (Econ Rev 15:369–386, 1996 )–TYDL. Our results suggest that the null hypothesis that ‘FDI does not Granger cause economic growth’ is rejected for all countries except Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica. There is also evidence of unidirectional causality from growth to FDI for all countries except Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Jamaica. We found bidirectional causality for Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even if questions of how resources are distributed within and between societies are the main concern, it is necessary to continue to grapple with the issue of the causes of economic growth since economic growth and level of development continue to be among the most important causes of inequality, poverty, unemployment, and the quality of life. This paper's dependent variable is the economic growth rate of 55 less developed countries (LDCs) over 2 time periods. 1970-78 and 1965-84. The causal model consists of control variables--level of development and domestic investment in 1965--and a variety of independent variables drawn from major sociological theories of economic growth published during the last 3 decades. Multiple regression analysis shows that, net of the effects of the 2 control variables, the variables which have the strongest effect on economic growth are: 1) direct foreign investment, which has a negative effect, 2) the proportion of the population in military service, and 3) the primary school enrollment ratio, both of which have positive effects on economic growth. On the other hand, variables drawn from some theories receive no empirical support. The mass media of communications, ethnolinguistic heterogeneity, democracy and human rights, income inequality, and state-centric theory's key variable, state strength, all fail to show any significant impact on economic growth rates when the control variables and the significant independent variables are held constant. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

This paper is aimed at improving our ability to assess the magnitude of maternal mortality in developing countries, where reliable data on maternal deaths are scarce. First, the upper and lower limits of maternal mortality in a population are determined based on the general levels of mortality and fertility in a population. The relative importance of maternal deaths as a proportion of death among women of reproductive ages may, therefore, vary from less than 1 percent in low-mortality countries to about 25-30 percent in high-mortality countries. Second, the analysis and interpretation of maternal mortality data from health facilities and vital registration systems can be improved if a variety of other data sources are used, such as coverage of deliveries in hospitals and at home, and all causes of death among women of reproductive age. It is estimated that approximately 515,000 women died annually due to pregnancy-related causes in developing countries between 1980 and 1985. Ninety percent of these deaths took place in Africa and South Asia, where births are frequent and maternal mortality levels are high.

The thrust of this paper is an analysis of the environmental and sociocultural parameters affecting dietary patterns in Third World countries. The author utilizes data from several studies to emphasize her thesis that malnutrition in developing societies is not an entity caused simply by income constraints, or food availability, but rather that malnutrition constitutes a critical entity resulting from a constellation of problems, ranging from environmental stresses, to social inequities to cultural factors. Special discussion is given to the variables of income distribution, social stratification and food beliefs as major contributing influences of malnutrition in Third World countries. The problems facing newly migrating urban squatters--or what is known as "societies in transition" in the context of high unemployment and new demands for food--are also dealt with in the Latin American setting. The author discusses the importance to recognize that since the etiology of malnutrition is ecologically-based; therefore, the approaches to solve this problem should--also by definition--be of an ecological nature. The need to further develop meaningful conceptual models--in contrast to utilizing "imported" ones--in order to study and understand the nature and magnitude of malnutrition problems in Third World countries is also stressed.

This paper discusses, on the basis of the Bruntland Report on development and environment, the relationship between population and development possibilities, and its consequences on natural and man made resources. The author emphasizes the need to design development policies in which the protection of the environment is a priority, specially in Latin American countries.

This paper examines the impact on total factor productivity (TFP) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and in other developing countries of trade-related technology diffusion from the North (denoted by NRD), education, and governance. The NRD of developing countries is defined as a weighted sum of R&D stocks in the North, with weights related to openness with the North's trading partners. Industryspecific NRD is based on the North's industry-specific R&D stocks, North-South trade patterns, and input-output relations in the South. The main findings are that: i) the impact of education and governance on TFP is significantly larger in LAC than in other developing countries, while the opposite holds for NRD; ii) education, governance and NRD have additional effects on TFP in LAC's R&D-intensive industries through their interaction with the other two variables; and iii) since NRD increases with openness to the North and with the North's R&D stocks, both variables raise the South's TFP directly as well as through interaction with education and governance. These interaction effects imply that increasing the level of any of the three policy variables — education, governance or openness — results in virtuous growth cycles. These are smallest for an increase in one of these variables, stronger for an increase in two of them, and strongest for an increase in all three variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A social franchise in health is a network of for-profit private health practitioners linked through contracts to provide socially beneficial services under a common brand. The early 21st century has seen considerable donor enthusiasm for promoting social franchises for the provision of reproductive health services. Based on a compendium of descriptive information on 45 clinical social franchises, located in 27 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, this paper examines their contribution to universal access to comprehensive reproductive health services. It finds that these franchises have not widened the range of reproductive health services, but have mainly focused on contraceptive services, and to a lesser extent, maternal health care and abortion. In many instances, coverage had not been extended to new areas. Measures taken to ensure sustainability ran counter to the objective of access for low-income groups. In almost two-thirds of the franchises, the full cost of all services had to be paid out of pocket and was unaffordable for low-income women. While standards and protocols for quality assurance were in place in all franchises, evidence on adherence to these was limited. Informal interviews with patients indicated satisfaction with services. However, factors such as difficulties in recruiting franchisees and significant attrition, franchisees' inability to attend training programmes, use of lay health workers to deliver services without support or supervision, and logistical problems with applying quality assurance tools, all raise concerns. The contribution of social franchises to universal access to reproductive health services appears to be uncertain. Continued investment in them for the provision of reproductive health services does not appear to be justified until and unless further evidence of their value is forthcoming. Dans la santé, une franchise sociale est un réseau de praticiens privés à but lucratif tenus par contrat d'assurer des services socialement bénéfiques sous une même marque. Au début du XXIe siècle, les donateurs ont encouragé avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme les franchises sociales pour les services de santé génésique. Se fondant sur un recueil d'informations descriptives relatives à 45 franchises sociales cliniques, situées dans 27 pays d'Afrique, d'Asie et d'Amérique latine, cet article examine leur contribution à l'accès universel à des services globaux de santé génésique. Il révèle que ces franchises n'ont pas élargi l'éventail de services de santé génésique, mais se sont principalement centrées sur la contraception et, dans une moindre mesure, les soins maternels et l'avortement. Dans de nombreux cas, la couverture n'avait pas été étendue à de nouvelles zones. Les mesures prises pour garantir la viabilité vont à l'encontre de l'objectif d'accès des groupes à faible revenu. Dans près des deux tiers des franchises, le coût total de l'ensemble des services devait être payé par les patients et était inabordable pour les femmes à faible revenu. Les normes et les protocoles d'assurance qualité étaient en place dans toutes les franchises, mais on dispose de données limitées sur leur observance. Des entretiens informels avec des patients ont indiqué qu'ils étaient satisfaits des services. Néanmoins, les difficultés pour recruter des franchisés et une certaine usure, l'incapacité des franchisés de suivre des programmes de formation, l'utilisation d'agents de santé profanes pour assurer des services sans soutien ni supervision et des problèmes logistiques pour appliquer les outils d'assurance qualité sont autant de facteurs préoccupants. La contribution des franchises sociales à l'accès universel aux services de santé génésique paraît incertaine. Il ne semble pas justifié de continuer d'investir en leur faveur pour la prestation de services de santé génésique, à moins que de nouvelles données ne prouvent leur utilité. Una franquicia social en salud es una red de profesionales de la salud particulares con fines de lucro, vinculados mediante contratos para ofrecer servicios de beneficio social bajo una marca en común. A principios del siglo XXI se ha visto un considerable entusiasmo por parte de donantes para promover las franquicias sociales para la prestación de servicios de salud reproductiva. Basado en un compendio de información descriptiva sobre 45 franquicias sociales clínicas, situadas en 27 países de Ãfrica, Asia y Latinoamérica, este artículo examina su contribución al acceso universal a los servicios integrales de salud reproductiva. Se encontró que estas franquicias no han ampliado la gama de servicios de salud reproductiva, sino que se han centrado principalmente en servicios de anticoncepción y, a menor grado, en servicios de salud materna y de aborto. En muchos casos, no se había extendido la cobertura a nuevas áreas. Las medidas tomadas para garantizar sostenibilidad eran contrarias al objetivo de acceso para grupos de bajos ingresos. En casi dos terceras partes de las franquicias, las pacientes tuvieron que pagar el costo total de todos los servicios, inasequible para mujeres de bajos ingresos. Aunque todas las franquicias habían establecido normas y protocolos para garantizar la calidad, había limitada evidencia de su cumplimiento. Las entrevistas informales con pacientes indicaron satisfacción con los servicios. No obstante, preocupan factores como las dificultades en reclutar franquiciados y una considerable amortización de puestos de trabajo, la imposibilidad de los franquiciados de asistir a programas de capacitación, el uso de trabajadores de la salud laicos para proporcionar servicios sin apoyo o supervisión, y los problemas logísticos aplicando las herramientas de garantía de la calidad. La contribución de franquicias sociales al acceso universal a los servicios de salud reproductiva parece ser incierta. A menos que surja más evidencia de su valor, no se justifica continuar invirtiendo en ellas para la prestación de servicios de salud reproductiva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]