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91. Beyond GDP: A compendium of regional feminist perspectives

Author:
Jennifer Lipenga, Lumonya Faith, Samia al-Botmeh, Nalini Rathnarajah, and Natalia Quiroga Diaz
Publication Date:
12-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In this publication, leading feminist thinkers from Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, share perspectives on why we must move beyond gross domestic product (GDP) as the primary measure of societal progress. Drawing on regional examples, they demonstrate how the GDP-growth obsession is skewing policy-making towards measures that drive austerity, debt, corporate power, and exploitative labour practices, whilst invisibilising unpaid care and domestic work. In a call to action, the authors highlight Indigenous and feminist alternatives that need to be pursued to catalyse a shift towards economies that centre care of people and the planet.
Topic:
GDP, Feminism, Decolonization, and Systems Change
Political Geography:
Africa, South Asia, Middle East, Latin America, North Africa, and Caribbean

92. Youth Employment in Tourism: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality in Latin America

Author:
Malena Dolcet, Natalia Porto, and Joaqu´ın Zarrilli
Publication Date:
08-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
Young people entering the labor markets face several and important challenges. These issues deepen due to rooted structural barriers such as informality or precarity, low-paid jobs, and low economic growth in regions like Latin America and sectors such as tourism (Abramo, 2022). Tourism has great potential to employ many of these young people because it provides opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers, it has low barriers to entry and flexible conditions, and it provides critical skills for their professional life. However, the youth population needs to reduce the gap between their available skills and experienced gained and the future requirements of labor markets to avoid being socially excluded. We apply the multidimensional poverty methodology developed by Alkire and Foster (2011) to build a Quality of Employment index (QoE) for young workers employed in the tourism industry in Latin America for the period 2015-2019. Focusing on two groups of young workers -super young for those aged 15 to 24 and young those aged 25 to 35- we consider several aspects of working conditions and discuss some differences in job quality across countries by gender and education considering different levels of deprivation in the index. The results suggest a high level of deprivation in the young workers, specially in the super young group. However, employment quality increased in both groups for all countries in the region during the period 2015-2019.
Topic:
Tourism, Employment, Youth, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Latin America

93. Buffer or Bottleneck? Employment Exposure to Generative AI and the Digital Divide in Latin America

Author:
Paweł Gmyrek, Hernan Winkler, and Santiago Garganta
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
Empirical evidence on the potential impacts of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is mostly focused on high-income countries. In contrast, little is known about the role of this technology on the future economic pathways of developing economies. This paper contributes to fill this gap by estimating the exposure of the Latin American labor market to GenAI. It provides detailed statistics of GenAI exposure between and within countries by leveraging a rich set of harmonized household and labor force surveys. To account for the slower pace of technology adoption in developing economies, it adjusts the measures of exposure to GenAI by using the likelihood of accessing digital technologies at work. This is then used to assess the extent to which the digital divide across and within countries will be a barrier to maximize the productivity gains among occupations that could otherwise be augmented by GenAI tools. The findings show that certain characteristics are consistently correlated with higher exposure. Specifically, urban-based jobs that require higher education, are situated in the formal sector, and are held by individuals with higher incomes are more likely to come into interaction with this technology. Moreover, there is a pronounced tilt toward younger workers facing greater exposure, including the risk of job automation, particularly in the finance, insurance, and public administration sectors. When adjusting for access to digital technologies, the findings show that the digital divide is a major barrier to realizing the positive effects of GenAI on jobs in the region. In particular, nearly half of the positions that could potentially benefit from augmentation are hampered by lack of use of digital technologies. This negative effect of the digital divide is more pronounced in poorer countries.
Topic:
Employment, Digital Economy, Artificial Intelligence, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Latin America

94. Abortion Legalization and Adolescent Fertility: New Evidence for Uruguay Based on the Synthetic Control Method

Author:
Rafael-Andrés Velázquez-Pérez
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
Following abortion legalization in Uruguay in late 2012, adolescent fertility rate fell by more than half. This paper aims at establishing a causality relationship. To estimate the impact of the abortion reform on adolescent fertility I use the Synthetic Control Method by comparing trends of Uruguay with Latin America and the Caribbean countries with restrictive abortion laws. Results suggest adolescent fertility rate was reduced in the postreform period by an average of 8.3 births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19, a decline of almost 15% with respect to the synthetic control unit. In-space placebos indicate this effect is statistically significant at the 5% level. This conclusion holds after conducting an in-time placebo test and a leave-one-out test. To the present time, evidence on the impact of Uruguayan abortion legalization on adolescent fertility that has addressed endogeneity is mixed, and based entirely on identification strategies that exploit different sources of exogenous within-country variation that determines the exposure to the reform. My contribution here is to exploit between-country variation, bringing new evidence to the on-going debate.
Topic:
Adolescence, Fertility, Abortion, and Synthetic Control Method
Political Geography:
Uruguay and Latin America

95. Gender Inequality in Latin America

Author:
Inés Berniell, Leonel Fernández, and Sonya Krutikova
Publication Date:
07-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
This paper examines gender inequality focusing on two critical spheres in which gender inequality is generated: education and work. Our objective is to provide a snapshot of gender inequality across key indicators as well as a dynamic perspective that highlights successes and failures. We also facilitate a cross-country comparison by grouping countries within Latin America by their level of economic development and drawing comparisons with countries outside the region. Finally, we reflect on differences in the ways that gender inequalities play out across different socio-economic groups, particularly those that highlight other sources of inequality
Topic:
Education, Inequality, Labor Market, Gender Wage Gap, and Gender Equality
Political Geography:
Latin America

96. Measuring Green Jobs: A New Database for Latin America and Other Regions

Author:
Hernan Winkler, Vincenzo Di Maro, Kelly Montoya, Sergio Olivieri, and Emmanuel Vazquez
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
A growing body of literature investigates the labor market implications of scaling up “green” policies. Since most of this literature is focused on developed economies, little is known about the labor market consequences for developing countries. This paper contributes to filling this gap by providing new stylized facts on the prevalence of green occupations and sectors across countries at varying levels of economic development. Green occupations are defined using the Occupational Information Network, and green sectors are those with relatively lower greenhouse gas emissions per worker. The paper offers an initial assessment of how the implementation of green policies—aimed at expanding green sectors and strengthening the relative demand for green skills—may affect workers in developing economies. It finds that the share of green jobs is strongly correlated with the level of gross domestic product per capita across countries. When controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, a 1 percent increase in gross domestic product per capita is associated with 0.4 and 4.1 percentage point increases in the shares of new and emerging, and enhanced skills green jobs, respectively. The paper then focuses on Latin America and finds that only 9 percent of workers have a green job with respect to both occupation and sector. The findings show that within countries, workers with low levels of income and education are more likely to be employed in non-green sectors and occupations, and to lack the skills for a greener economy. This evidence suggests that complementary policies are needed to mitigate the potential role of green policiesin widening income inequality between and within countries.
Topic:
Climate Change, Employment, Labor Market, and Green Jobs
Political Geography:
Latin America

97. The European Union Deforestation Regulation: The Impact on Argentina

Author:
Pablo de la Vega
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
We analyze the potential economic impacts in Argentina of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which as of January 2025 will prohibit the export to the European Union of certain raw materials and related products if they involve the use of deforested land. A dynamic computable general equilibrium model is used to simulate the impact of such regulation on the Argentine economy. The results suggest that the potential macroeconomic impacts are limited. As a consequence of the EUDR, between 2025 and 2030, GDP would be reduced by an average of 0.46% with respect to the baseline scenario. However, of greater magnitude is the potential environmental impact. Deforested hectares would be reduced by 6.64% and polluting gas emissions by 0.39%.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, Exports, Trade, and Deforestation
Political Geography:
Europe, Argentina, South America, and Latin America