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Does it matter how we compare schools?
In Mexico, over 95% of elementary schools receive annual report cards. These cards provide information on the standardized average school test scores in Math, Spanish and a rotating subject. The card...
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Cement is good (for politicians too)
Almost a year ago, we published a blog on the results of an innovative experiment that estimated the impact of paving streets in Mexico on property and land values, credit or use of durable goods....
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Traffic jams
In 1966, the incredible Julio Cortazar published a short story called ‘The Southern Thruway’. An accident happens in a lazy summer afternoon and traffic grinds to a halt. Nothing moves. Everybody...
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3 ideas to improve education quality
On February 2013 the 3rd article of the Mexican constitution was reformed to establish that the State must guarantee education quality. The reform also established that entry into the teaching...
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Timely thoughts on impact evaluations
Everyone has great ideas when it comes to designing development projects or policies. At the drawing board, and with a bit of ideological support, an abundance of ideas are born that could easily...
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Cash transfers, 103 years ago
Cash Transfers are probably one of the most researched interventions in the world. The great majority of this research has focused on short to medium term impacts. This is not surprising as the first...
View ArticleCan Mexico make the leap in Innovation?
In 2012, President Enrique Peña Nieto set the very ambitious goal of increasing Mexico’s investment in Science and Technology from the current 0.4 percent to 1 percent of GDP by the end of his...
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8 lessons from giving cash to the poor
18 governments from Latin America and the Caribbean give out regular monthly cash transfers to almost 130 million poor. These transfers which are known as Conditional Cash Transfers or CCTs and which...
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Opening the English World for Native Spanish Speakers
Levels of English in Latin America will only improve with effective training for teacher. Photo: Getty images. Have you ever tried to learn to speak a foreign language? Did it make you nervous the...
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Are School Funds like a Party Cake? Taking Leftovers Home
Imagine that you are a parent and that last year you contributed US$20 to your child’s school to buy cleaning supplies, fix broken windows and pay for the phone service. Different from last year, now...
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Opening the English world for native Spanish speakers
Have you ever tried to learn to speak a foreign language? Did it make you nervous the first time you had to speak it? Imagine having to teach it. Image: iStock English is the most widely spoken...
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Habitat program: closing gaps in Mexico’s formal neighborhoods
Imagine living in a neighborhood where some families have water and others don’t. Where half the streets are paved, and only some have sidewalks. Where street lighting exists only in certain areas,...
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How Do We Know if We Are Improving Lives? Multidimensional Poverty and...
The mission of the IDB is to work with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to improve the lives of their citizens. However, this process is not an exact science, so it is not always easy...
View ArticleStudent Loans Targeted to the Poor
By Agustín Zamora Mariclere Alvarez was halfway towards a communications degree at a private university in Mexico when her parents told her they could not pay for her education anymore because of...
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The Effect of Upfront Payments on the Turnover of Rural Instructors
By Rosangela Bando and Claudia Uribe The dream of many young Mexicans is to go to college. Juanita’s high school dream was to become a teacher one day. Little did she imagine that her dream would make...
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