In 2007, seeking to increase female labor force participation and more generally ease burdens on working women, the Mexican government introduced an enormous expansion of a child care program: Estancias Infantiles para Apoyar a Madres Trabajadoras (EI). EI covers 90 percent approximately of the cost of enrolling a child under age four at a formal child care center and is intended to benefit women who are looking for work, in school, or working -with the exception of those who already have access to child care because their job is covered by Mexico's social security system (IMSS). The roll-out of EI was so fast and intense that, by mid-2010, it had approximately 357,000 child care spaces. In order to identify the effects of the program I use a combination of triple differences and synthetic control methods, and find that EI increased women's probability of working and reduced the time they devoted to child rearing. EI also caused women to obtain more stable jobs and it increased their labor incomes. Affected husbands spent less time on child rearing and housework, and they were more likely to switch to a better-paid job.
Por medio de la estimación de un sistema de puntaje implícito intentamos inferir algunos de los principios utilizados por un equipo médico en la asignación de trasplantes renales en México. Los resultados indican que los criterios vinculados a principios de eficiencia médica y posición en la lista de espera son los que determinan fundamentalmente la asignación final de los órganos.
La Educación Pública Técnica Secundaria es una modalidad educativa costarricense, concebida como alternativa para la inserción temprana de la población joven en el mercado laboral. A pesar de su importancia en el plano nacional, no es tema central de las investigaciones existentes en materia educativa, que aborda más bien los aspectos como la oferta técnica del Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje, especialidades técnicas, mercado laboral y evaluación por competencias –entre otros-, dejando de lado la formulación, orientación y ejecución de la política en Educación Técnica en sí. El presente artículo surge como resultado de Trabajo Final de Investigación para optar por el grado de Licenciatura en Trabajo Social de la Universidad de Costa Rica, y tiene como objetivo hacer una reconstrucción de los elementos principales de la política costarricense de Educación Técnica secundaria, desarrollada por el Ministerio de Educación Pública, en el periodo 1950-2014. La reconstrucción se guía por un modelo de análisis de política pública, fundamentado en la Teoría General de Sistemas, y con una metodología mixta de preponderancia cualitativa de alcances descriptivos y exploratorios. La población participante en estudio se compone por cinco profesionales del MEP con experiencia en la formulación e implementación de la política de Educación Técnica desde tres escenarios diferentes: los centros educativos, la Dirección de Educación Técnica Capacidades y Emprendedoras, y la función ministerial. La principal técnica de recolección de información corresponde al análisis documental de las memorias anuales de labores del MEP de 1950-2014, que se complementa con entrevistas semiestructuradas a profesionales del MEP. La investigación concluye que la Educación Técnica resulta más una aproximación al mercado laboral que una garantía real de inserción en el mismo, pues el mercado meta es incapaz de absorber toda la mano de obra que en ella se forma. ; Public Technical Secondary Education is a Costa Rican educational modality, conceived as an alternative for the early insertion of the young population in the labor market. Despite its importance at the national level, it is not a central theme of existing academic research about the education system, which rather addresses aspects such as the technical offer of the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje, technical specialties, the labor market and evaluation by competences -among others -, leaving aside the formulation, orientation and execution of the Technical Education policy itself. This article arises as a result of a research study to opt for the Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Costa Rica, and aims to reconstruct the main elements of the Costa Rican policy of Secondary Technical Education, developed by the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), in the period 1950-2014. The reconstruction is guided by a model of public policy analysis, based on General Systems Theory, and with a mixed methodology of qualitative preponderance of descriptive and exploratory scopes. The population participating in the study is made up of five professionals from MEP with experience in the formulation and implementation of the Technical Education Policy from three different scenarios: educational centers; the Direction of Technical Education, Capacities and Entrepreneurs; and the ministerial function. The main technique for collecting information corresponds to the documentary analysis of the annual reports of MEP's work from 1950-2014, which is complemented by semi-structured interviews with MEP's professionals. The research concludes that Secondary Technical Education is more an approximation to the labor market than a real guarantee of insertion in it, since the target market is unable to absorb all the labor that is formed
In 2006, the Mexican government launched an aggressive campaign to weaken drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs). The security policies differed significantly from those of previous administrations in the use of a leadership strategy (the targeting for arrest of the highest levels or core leadership of criminal networks). While these strategies can play an important role in disrupting the targeted criminal organization, they can also have unintended consequences, increasing inter-cartel and intra-cartel fighting and fragmenting criminal organizations. What impact do captures of senior drug cartel members have on the dynamics of drug-related violence? Does it matter if governments target drug kingpins versus lower-ranked lieutenants? We analyze whether the captures or killings of kingpins and lieutenants have increased drug-related violence and whether the violence spills over spatially. To estimate effects that are credibly causal, we use different empirical strategies that combine difference-in-differences and synthetic control group methods. We find evidence that captures or killings of drug cartel leaders have exacerbating effects not only on DTO-related violence but also on homicides that affect the general population. Captures or killings of lieutenants, for their part, only seem to exacerbate violence in "strategic places" or municipalities located in the transportation network. While most of the effects on DTO-related violence are found in the first six months after a leader's removal, effects on homicides affecting the rest of the population are more enduring, suggesting different mechanisms through which leadership neutralizations breed violence.
