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The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between six different dimensions of political risk in a country and its spread for a sample of 12 Latin American countries.

The methodology applied consists of panel estimators with fixed effects. In addition, a panel data model with instrumental variables is considered to tackle with potential problems of endogeneity in the model.

The results show there is a strong positive relationship between political risk and sovereign spread in Latin America, i.e., greater political risk is associated with greater sovereign spread. This effect is particularly significant when the political risk is associated with a weak rule of law or low-quality regulation in the country.

The main limitation of this study concerns the potential risks of endogeneity which might exist between sovereign risk and political risk measures, which may not have been completely eliminated with the econometric methodology used.

This paper contributes to the literature of sovereign risk by studying the dimension of political risk in detail. Specifically, six dimensions of political risk are studied. Additionally, it provides empirical evidence, including the 2008 financial crisis period, regarding the determinants of spreads on Latin American economies.

En este trabajo se estudia la relación existente entre 6 diferentes dimensiones de riesgo político de un país y su spread soberano para una muestra de 12 países latinoamericanos.

La metodología utilizada corresponde a estimadores de panel con efectos fijos. Además, se considera un modelo de panel con variable instrumental para lidiar con posibles problemas de endogeneidad en el modelo.

Los resultados muestran que existe una fuerte relación positiva entre riesgo político y spread soberanos en América Latina, es decir, mayor riesgo político está asociado a mayor spread soberano. Este efecto es particularmente significativo cuando el riesgo político está asociado a un Estado de Derecho débil o a una baja calidad regulatoria en el país.

La principal limitación de este estudio son los potenciales riesgos de endogeneidad que pudieran existir entre las medidas de riesgo político y riesgo soberano, y que no hayan sido eliminadas completamente con la metodología econométrica utilizada.

este trabajo contribuye a la literatura de riesgo soberano estudiando la dimensión de riesgo político en detalle. En particular, se consideran 6 posibles dimensiones del riesgo político. Además, provee evidencia empírica reciente, incluyendo el período de crisis financiera del 2008, respecto a los determinantes de spread en economías latinoamericanas.

The research aims to applying Baumol’s framework to address some research gaps in the literature. This paper aims to analyze how institutional variations at the subnational level impact entrepreneurship decisions and the path toward productive or unproductive entrepreneurship in an institutionally underdeveloped country. The results offer potentially new theoretical insights and practical implications for developing or emergent countries.

The research applies Baumol’s framework to Mexico’s context. The research collects data compounded by individual- and state-level variables from diverse sources for the 32 Mexican states. The individual level and some controls were obtained from sources of regular frequency, but the institutional variables were derived from surveys of irregular frequency, nonsynchronic and mostly nonoverlapping, which required aligning and centered them around 2016 and 2019 to match with the individual variables. The authors apply multilevel nonlinear mixed-effects probit regression to test nine hypotheses regarding the impact of institutional variables on entrepreneurial decisions and the path toward productive or unproductive entrepreneurship.

Improved formal institutions across the Mexican states reduce the entrepreneurship probability, implying interactions with other variables and indirect effects; encourage the selection of productive entrepreneurship, e.g. formal ventures; and discourage self-employment. Consequently, those institutions do not encourage entrepreneurship selection as an occupation but entrepreneurial quality, i.e. the selection of productive-formal entrepreneurship and larger ventures. Deficient informal institutions increase the entrepreneurship and formal entrepreneurship probabilities, implying the interactions with other variables and indirect effects and supporting the corruption “greases the wheels” hypothesis, consequently encouraging productive ventures. New evidence of the positive relationship between criminality and entrepreneurship types in Mexico is reported.

Our findings indicate important impacts of the individual-level variables on the entrepreneurship decisions and that most of those decisions are potentially necessity driven and a minority are driven by opportunity, given their relationship with the macroeconomic controls and the institutional variables. The authors report mixed results on the relationship between institutions and entrepreneurship partially consistent with the literature; some results contribute additional evidence on controversial hypotheses or imply the existence of indirect effects. Overall, the results suggest that institutions impact the individual decisions to venture and the type of venture consequently affecting the amount and quality of entrepreneurship across states.

The research addresses some of the literature gaps by providing empirical evidence on a middle-income country and how diverging regional institutional contexts, including formal and informal institutions, impact the individual’s entrepreneurship decisions within an institutionally underdeveloped country. The paper contributes new knowledge and insights into entrepreneurship in emerging or developing countries with implications for Baumol’s framework in this context and adds to the debated hypothesis on the relationship between some institutions, e.g. corruption and criminality and entrepreneurship.

Through an analysis of 15 Latin American countries, the purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of several institutional variables (economic, regulatory, and cultural), which affect women’s careers towards being members of boards of directors in the region.

Based on primary and secondary information, the authors carry out multivariate analyses to understand the institutional reasons affecting the reduced presence of women on boards of directors in the region.

Their findings reveal differences within the region, the importance of protecting women’s professional careers in the labour market, and the effect of cultural dimensions, such as masculinity and power distance.

The analysis provides an updated cross-section of the institutional and cultural conditions of the 15 countries, considering the limitations to developing data in the region.

Latin America has witnessed important changes in the dynamics of the labour market over recent decades: women’s participation in the labour force is on the increase, and corporate strategy is evolving towards the incorporation of practices and initiatives to manage the diversity of their talents. However, the presence of women in leadership positions is a pending subject. This study, in part, reveals the institutional origin of gender inequality on boards of directors in the region. The analysis provides essential tools for public policy and for companies to help promote female leadership in the region.

Recent debate and research on the scarce participation of women on corporative boards of directors have revealed a growing interest in analysing the causes of such issues despite the progress recorded in terms of gender equity in most societies. Studies on the topic in Latin America are scarce and the aim of this paper is to help to fill part of this gap.

El presente trabajo explora en quince países de América Latina la importancia de distintas variables institucionales (económicas regulatorias y culturales) que afectan a las carreras de las mujeres hacia los consejos de administración en la región.

A partir de información primaria y secundaria, los autores desarrollan diversos análisis multivariantes para entender las razones institucionales que afectan tras la reducida presencia de mujeres en los consejos de la región.

Los resultados de los análisis realizados muestran las diferencias dentro de la región así como la importancia de de analizar las carreras profesionales de las mujeres en el mercado de trabajo y el efecto de las dimensiones culturales como la masculinidad y la distancia al poder.

El análisis muestra un corte transversal de la realidad institutional y cultural de los 15 países lo más actual posible, teniendo en cuenta las limitaciones en el desarrollo de datos en la región.

En América Latina, se han producido cambios importantes en la dinámica del mercado laboral en las últimas décadas: las tasas de participación de mujeres en la fuerza de trabajo están en aumento y las estrategias empresariales van evolucionando hacia la incorporación de prácticas e iniciativas que tienden a gestionar la diversidad de sus talentos. Sin embargo la presencia de mujeres en puestos de liderazgo empresarial es una asignatura pendiente. El presente trabajo muestra en parte el origen institucional de las desigualdades de género en los consejos de administración en la región. Este análisis provee de herramientas esenciales para la política púlica y las empresas en la búsqueda de la promoción del liderazgo femenino en la región.

Recientes debates e investigaciones sobre la escasa incorporación de mujeres en los consejos directivos en las corporaciones, han evidenciado el creciente interés por analizar las causas de estas cuestiones a pesar de los avances registrados en términos de equidad de género en la mayoría de las sociedades. Sin embargo, hay una escasez de estudios en esta área en América Latina. El presente artículo busca llenar en parte ese hueco.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the affordability and sustainability of residential water consumption in Ecuador, a developing country.

To determine affordability, the authors assess water consumption and its distribution across different income levels of the population in the three main cities: Cuenca, Guayaquil and Quito. The authors then simulate the effects of a pricing policy on sustainability by deriving demand elasticities through a quadratic almost ideal demand system (QUAIDS).

Results show that Ecuador has low water tariffs with respect to other cities in Latin America, which points to its affordability. However, sustainability might not be guaranteed since consumption is overall higher than the level suggested by the World Health Organization. From an economic point of view, this could be motivated by the low tariffs. Indeed, the simulation of a pricing policy shows that higher prices can significantly reduce demand for most of the sample. However, in low-income households this reduction may compromise vital consumption.

This research has important implications in terms of stimulating the discussion of how water affordability and sustainability can be achieved. For the case study, Ecuador, the results indicate that sustainability may not be guaranteed and that policies need to be designed to encourage it. Another implication is that population income levels should be considered to avoid negative effects for the most vulnerable groups. The main limitations of this study are methodological. First, the QUAIDS model is based on a conditional demand model (Zhen et al., 2013), which does not take into account spending on other goods. Second, data availability is limited and prevents a deeper analysis.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to analyze these issues in Ecuador, a country that recognizes the human right to water at the constitutional level.