SEMINARIOS Y WORKSHOPS

Fecha: 15/10/2020, 11:00

Modalidad: Virtual

Presentador: Pablo Lavado (Universidad del Pacifico)

Autor: Lavado, Pablo

Financial knowledge is critical for making sound decisions that foster financial health and protect consumers from predation. A widely-used tool for building this capability is financial education. Yet evidence suggests that conventional approaches which teach concepts in classroom-style settings are ineffective and expensive at scale, especially for lower-income users. More recent findings indicate that customizing financial education to the needs, interests, and location of participants may increase impact, though doing so in a cost-effective and scalable way remains challenging. This randomized evaluation of a tablet-based financial education program with mostly female recipients of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program in Colombia offers evidence for how to design and scale an effective digital-based financial education program. Results indicate that the LISTA Initiative had significant positive impacts on financial knowledge, attitudes, practices, and performance, increasing for poorer, less educated, and more rural populations, with users exhibiting increased financial health over two years later. Critical mechanisms included well-designed content and a social learning component. Yet the longer-term impact on formal financial inclusion was limited, suggesting the possible benefits of combining supply-side solutions with financial education interventions.

Más información

Fecha: 22/10/2020, 08:00

Modalidad: Virtual

Presentador: Gonzague Vannoorenberghe (UC Louvain)

Autor: Vannoorenberghe, Gonzague

We consider a trade model where countries set standards to solve the externalities associated with the consumption of goods. Countries differ in their regulatory preferences over these externalities and choose different standards under autarky. When opening to trade, countries can stick to their standard or adjust it to reflect the preferences of other countries. Benefits accrue if the gains arising from technological efficiency outweigh their asymmetric concerns over these externalities and countries with similar views about externalities trade more in equilibrium. In this setup, the purpose of a trade agreement is the coordination of countries on their standards (harmonization). In the presence of highly-dispersed regulatory preferences, the gains from a multilateral trade policy are small, which leads to the emergence of trade blocs. The recent evolution from multilateral trade liberalization to the formation of trade blocs is in line with a world where consumption externalities become more prevalent.

Más información

Fecha: 29/10/2020, 08:00

Modalidad: Virtual

Presentador: Arlen Guarin (UC Berkeley)

Autor: Guarin, Arlen

A random assignment of recently graduated physicians to their first job— through a nationwide public service program in Colombia — provides a test for effect of being treated by a more skilled physician on birth outcomes. Using administrative data from the program, Vital Statistics Records and individual records from the mandatory field-specific college graduation exams, we find that more-skilled physicians improve health at birth. An increase of one-standard-deviation in our measure of skills causes a 7.4 percent reduction in the incidence of low birthweight, a 12.7 percent reduction in the incidence of prematurity, and an 18.3 percent decrease in the probability of low APGAR scores. We provide evidence that these effects are concentrated among hospitals with high pre-experiment incidence of LBW and hospitals with strong financial health, and mothers who spent their entire gestational period with the new physicians. The evidence suggests that the program fostered health at birth in depressed urban and rural populations with difficult access to health services.

Más información

Fecha: 05/11/2020, 08:00

Modalidad: Virtual

Presentador: Joseph Vecci (U of Gothenburg)

Autor: Vecci, Joseph

Farmers, who make up the majority of poor and extreme poor in developing countries are very vulnerable to climate change. It is therefore important that they adapt their behaviour in order to become climate resilient. In this paper we investigate potential psychological impediments that make it difficult for farmers to change behaviour. In particular, this paper evaluates the impact of a multi-pronged psychological intervention that targets locus of control--an individual’s belief in their own ability to influence their outcomes-- and studies it effect on aspirations and the adoption of climate smart technologies. We use a sample of 2100 farmers from 200 villages in Odisha India. We find that at baseline, the majority of farmers do not believe they can influence their own outcomes or improve their standing by changing their behaviour. Our intervention, which targets multiple aspects of locus of control has mixed results on aspirations and decision making including the adoption of new stress resistant varieties or the take up of agricultural insurance.

Más información