Aldo Madariaga

The On-the-Job Training Decision in Latin America

Using data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Survey, this paper explores the determinants of firms’ training decisions in Latin America and the Caribbean. The share of production for the export market and the size of the firm are key factors; training programs are not prevalent in all sectors. In addition, the share of workers receiving training depends on the age of the firm, and only for non-productive workers are differences observed across sectors. More detailed data from a Longitudinal Enterprise Survey in Chile are used to corroborate these findings. It is found that the percentage of workers receiving training is low and that the extensive and intensive margins of training are affected by different sets of firm characteristics. Finally, the results of a qualitative study in Chile suggest that training is mostly introduced to comply with certifications and standards imposed by domestic and foreign authorities. Training in larger firms may also be oriented to improve the work environment.Gender gaps are more pronounced in the region than in other parts of the world. Boys in the region perform better than girls in science and mathematics, while girls outperform boys in reading.

Business Power and the Minimal State: The Defeat of Industrial Policy in Chile

Abstract Chile has maintained a limited industrial policy for nearly three decades. Policy resilience during the 2000s and 2010s is especially puzzling given the political and economic context: three Socialist-led administrations; the retreat of the Washington Consensus; resource abundance from the commodity boom; and the decline of the so-called economic ‘miracle’. We present the first comprehensive analysis of industrial policy in post-authoritarian Chile (1990–present) and show the significant political influence of business actors with a preference for limited state intervention in the economy as a mechanism of policy reproduction.

La protección social como problema de coordinación

This article aims to provide new insights to the debate about how to analyze the performance of social protection policies, with special interest in Chile. The article develops the concept of coordination and its reach in the field of social protection, generating an analytical framework that draws attention to three critical aspects: the generation of expectations and motivations between beneficiaries; the articulation of the agencies related with the production of social protection benefits, and the linkage of the systemic resources necessary to produce those benefits. These elements are translated into a matrix which helps ordinating the analysis and observing the performance of policies and programmes in different aspects of its functioning. Keywords : Social policy - social protection - performance - coordination.