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UN DESA | DPAD | Development Policy Analysis Division

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Capacity Development Publications

Vulnerabilidad económica externa,
protección social y pobreza en América Latina

Economic vulnerability to external shocks, social protection and poverty in Latin America

Economic vulnerability to external shocks, social protection and poverty in Latin America. Conditional cash transfers and noncontributory pension plans can be viable fiscal instruments to offset the negative effects of external shocks on poverty and inequality. This conclusion is drawn from applying an integrated macro-micro modelling framework with data from Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico. The results of country studies conducted by national teams were integrated into a comparative analysis. The modelling framework, described in detail, takes explicit account of social protection systems and policies, and is used to gauge the economy-wide effects of external shocks and policy responses through scenario analyses.

This publication is one of the main outcomes of the UN-DESA/DPAD Development Account project "Implications of Macroeconomic Policy, External Shocks and Social Protection Systems for Poverty, Inequality, and Social Vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean", implemented in partnership with UN-ECLAC's Sub-regional Office in Mexico.

Choques Externos y Politicas
de Protección Social en Costa Rica

External Shocks and Social Protection Systems in Costa Rica

UN-ECLAC and UN-DESA/DPAD teamed up to develop an integrated macro and micro analytical approach that enables the assessment of public and social-protection policies which may effectively help offset adverse effects of external shocks on poverty and inequality. Activities were implemented in the framework of the capacity development project "Implications of Macroeconomic Policy, External Shocks and Social Protection Systems for Poverty, Inequality, and Social Vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean" and included training in the use of various analytical tools for Government experts from seven Latin American countries. The study provides a detailed description of the analytical framework and concrete policy recommendations which may enable the Costa Rican Government to make strategic decisions regarding implementation of policies that can effectively offset adverse effects of external shocks.

Publication of this study was sponsored by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Policy of Costa Rica (MIDEPLAN), Programa Estado de la Nación and the UNDP office in Costa Rica.

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  • A free hard copy is available upon request at:

Políticas Macroeconómicas,
Choques Externos y Protección Social en Bolivia

Políticas Macroeconómicas,Choques Externos y Protección Social en Bolivia

UN-ECLAC and UN-DESA/DPAD teamed up to develop an integrated macro and micro analytical approach that enables the assessment of public and social-protection policies which may effectively help offset adverse effects of external shocks on poverty and inequality. Activities were implemented in the framework of the capacity development project "Implications of Macroeconomic Policy, External Shocks and Social Protection Systems for Poverty, Inequality, and Social Vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean" and included training in the use of various analytical tools for Government experts from seven Latin American countries. The study provides a detailed description of the analytical framework and concrete policy recommendations which may enable the Bolivian Government to make strategic decisions regarding the implementation of policies that can effectively offset adverse effects of external shocks.

Publication of this study was sponsored by the Unidad de Análisis de Políticas Sociales y Económicas, the technical think tank of the Plurinational State of Bolivia's Government.

  • or upon request at:

Public Policies for Human Development: Achieving
the Millennium Development Goals in Latin America

Public Policies for Human Development

This publication is the main outcome of the UNDP/UN-DESA/World Bank Capacity Building project "Public Policies for the MDGs". It assesses what feasible financing strategies policymakers in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean would be advised to follow in pursuance of the United Nations' millennium development goals (MDGs) and their achievement in 2015. It responds two questions: how to make macroeconomic policies more conducive to support sustained growth and reduce the still widespread poverty and inequality in the region, and how such policies could ensure sufficient levels of public spending in support of improvements in human development; ensuring that all children complete at least primary education, that child and maternal mortality rates are brought down substantially, and that all of the region's population has adequate access to basic sanitation.

Published in English in 2010 by Palgrave Macmillan, in association with UNDP, UN-DESA and the World Bank, including an update on how the global financial crisis may have affected MDG achievement in some of the countries under study. An extended version was published in Spanish in 2008 by Uqbar editors, in association with the aforementioned international institutions.

Modelos macroeconométricos
de la banca central en economías abiertas:
Centroamérica y República Dominicana, UN/DESA and ECLAC

Modelos macroeconométricos de la banca central en economías abiertas

This publication is the outcome of the UN/DESA Development Account project "Building capacity in macroeconomic policy analysis in Central America and the Caribbean", executed in collaboration with the Subregional Headquarters of ECLAC in Mexico and the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Monetary Council. It presents the macroeconomic models designed and used by the Central Banks for developing and analyzing economic policies, as well as for monitoring inflation, economic growth, monetary aggregates, and the exchange rate in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

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