This study reports results from a randomized evaluation of a mandatory six-month Internet-based sexual education course implemented across public junior high schools in 21 Colombian cities.
... See More + Six months after finishing the course, the study finds a 0.4 standard deviation improvement in knowledge, a 0.2 standard deviation improvement in attitudes, and a 55 percent increase in the likelihood of redeeming vouchers for condoms as a result of taking the course. The data provide no evidence of spillovers to control classrooms within treatment schools, and it finds that treatment effects are enhanced when a larger share of a student's friends also takes the course. The low cost of the online course along with the effectiveness the study documents suggests this technology is a viable alternative for improving sexual education in middle-income countries.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8821 APR 17, 2019
This issue focuses on Urbanization and Infrastructure Development and features the following articles:Building Sustainable Cities and Efficient Infrastructure; Who Benefits from Investments in Bus Rapid Transit Systems?
... See More + Evidence from Colombia; Beyond Faster Travel: Assessing the WiderEconomic Benefits of Transport Corridors; A Big Push or a Backwash? Economic Effects of Connecting a Hinterland; Highway Politics in Mexico; How Does the Shape of Latin American Cities AffectTheir Productivity? Getting to Jobs in Nairobi; Public Infrastructure and Structural Transformation; Buses, Houses, or Cash? Choices and Consequences in Reforming Public Transport Subsidies; Improving the Resilience of Peru’s Road Network to Climate Events; and The Vulnerability of Manufacturing Firms to Unreliable Water Infrastructure.
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An expanding body of literature has shown that better management practices can offer significant boosts to firms' productivity; this research illustrates that firms in South America are no exception.
... See More + Using recent Enterprise Survey data from seven countries in South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay), the paper explores the various dimensions and drivers of management practices and analyzes how they are related to productivity. This is an important topic to investigate, given the lagging levels of productivity growth in the region. If management practices can boost firms’ productivity, this may be a cost-effective way to accelerate economic growth. The results show that improved management practices are associated with higher levels of productivity in all countries, and it is the impact of improved management specifically in larger firms that is driving the overall results. Indeed, in some countries, specifically Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru, it is only among larger firms that there is a positive link between management practices and productivity.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8783 MAR 19, 2019
Ratings of Strengthening Capacity on Good Environmental Practices in Commercial Reforestation in the Magdalena Bajo Seco CDM Project for Colombia were as follows: outcome was satisfactory, Bank performance was satisfactory, and monitoring and evaluation quality was substantial.
... See More + Some of the lessons learned include: (i) support for the implementation of improved environmental management practices through this type of project is not only important, but, based on its experience, is welcomed and integrated by farmers and their communities; (ii) the environmental good practices manual and guidance sheets developed by this project be laminated and more widely disseminated so that they become readily available to all participating technicians and landowners, as well as others who may be interested; (iii) a regional mutual aid program for combatting forest fires be established in the project areas; (iv) it is necessary to reinforce training in disease, pest, and first aid management; and (v) funds should be sought to enable application of the planned additional survey of the socio-economic and environmental benefits perceived by the participating farmers as part of a more comprehensive assessment of project outcomes.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR00004693 MAR 14, 2019
