Person:
Chong, Alberto
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Economic development,
Political economy,
Public policy
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Last updated
January 31, 2023
Biography
Alberto Chong is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and holds a joint appointment with the College of Education and Human Development. He pursued graduate studies in Economics at Cornell University and Harvard University, and received his Ph.D. degree from Cornell. His publications include more than sixty papers in peer-reviewed journals such as the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, the Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Journal, the Journal of the European Economic Association, the Journal of Public Economics, and the Journal of International Economics, among others. He has also edited eight books. Before joining Georgia State University he held faculty appointments with the University of Ottawa and George Washington University and spent about a dozen years working in multilateral organizations in particular, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. He has consulted with USAID, 3ie, the World Bank and the Government of Peru, among others. His current research interests include a broad range of areas in economic development, political economy and public policy including private sector, information technologies, and governance. He is currently an Associate Editor with Economics Bulletin.
Publication Search Results
1 - 10 of 15
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Publication
Bundling Services and Household Welfare in Developing Countries: The Case of Peru
(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2003-11)Using panel data for Peru for 1994-2000, the authors find that when households receive two, or more services jointly, the welfare increases as measured by changes in consumption are larger than when services are provided separately. The increases appear to be more than proportional, as F-tests on the coefficients of the corresponding regressors confirm. Thus, the authors find that bundling services may help realize welfare effects. -
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(Ineffective) Messages to Encourage Recycling : Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Peru
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-07)There is growing interest in using messaging to drive prosocial behaviors, which contribute to investment in public goods. The authors worked with a leading nongovernmental organization in Peru to randomize nine different prorecycling messages that were crafted on the basis of best practices, prior evidence, and theories of behavioral change. Different variants emphasized information on environmental or social benefits, social comparisons, social sanctions, authority, and reminders. None of the messages had significant effects on recycling behavior. However, reducing the cost of ongoing participation by providing a recycling bin significantly increased recycling among enrolled households. -
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Privatization and Labor Force Restructuring around the World
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2002-09)Some critics of privatization argue that poor labor force restructuring is a key concern and that governments should establish better retrenchment programs. Using new data from a sample of 400 companies in the world, Chong and López-de-Silanes test competing theories about the wisdom of retrenchment programs and their effect on prices paid by buyers, and rehiring policies by private owners after privatization. The results show that adverse selection plagues retrenchment programs carried out by governments before privatization. Controlling for endogeneity, several labor retrenchment policies yield a negative impact on net privatization prices. In confirmation of the adverse selection argument, various types of voluntary downsizing lead to a higher frequency of rehiring of the same workers by the new private owners. Compulsory skill-based programs are the only type of program that is marginally associated with higher prices and lower rehiring rates after privatization, but the political and economic costs of this policy may make it somewhat impractical. While a qualified non-intervention policy appears to be the safest bet in labor retrenchment before privatization, another one might be to set up a social safety net or labor reallocation program before privatization, and then let the new private owners decide who is redundant and who is not. Setting up the program before privatization may help with the political viability of the process and letting the new owners manage the retrenchment may help avoid adverse selection. -
Publication
Determinants of Current Account Deficits in Developing Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-07)The authors examine the empirical links between current account deficits and a broad set of economic variables proposed in the literature. To accomplish this, they complement and extend previous research by using a large, consistent set of macroeconomic data on public and private domestic savings, external savings, and national income variables; focusing on developing economies by drawing on a panel data set for 44 developing countries and annual information for the period 1966-95; adopting a reduced-form approach rather than holding to a particular structural model; distinguishing between within-country and cross-country effects; and employing a class of estimators that controls for the problems of simultaneity and reverse causation. Among their findings: Current account deficits in developing countries are moderately persistent. A rise in domestic output growth generates a larger current account deficit. Increases in savings rates have a positive effect on the current account. Shocks that increase the terms of trade or cause the real exchange rate to appreciate are linked with higher current account deficits. Either higher growth rates in industrial economies or higher international interest rates reduce the current account deficit in developing economies. -
Publication
Investor Protection and Corporate Governance : Firm-Level Evidence Across Latin America
(Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007)This book holds that the crucial failure of corporate governance is the expropriation of outside investors, be they shareholders or creditors, by those who are in control of firms. The problem of expropriation, also known as tunneling, often takes on enormous proportions. Billions of dollars of wealth are siphoned away from outside investors to controlling shareholders and their private company allies. The expropriation prevents investors from devoting funds in the corporate sector, thus leading to low valuations of corporate assets, stunted capital markets, and slowed economic growth. Low valuations and underdeveloped financial markets are only two of the symptoms of investor expropriation. Other symptoms include concentrated corporate ownership, large spreads between cash flow ownership and the voting rights of dominant shareholders, pyramids, and low dividend payments. When financial markets exhibit these symptoms, the likely underlying problem is investor expropriation. The essays collected in this volume put together a compelling picture showing that many of the symptoms of investor expropriation and poor corporate governance are present in Latin America. The evidence is loud and clear in every chapter of this book. But there are also benefits to collecting this detailed proof. The evidence suggests recipes for improvement as well. The message of this book is as unambiguous as is its analysis: a critical goal in the agenda of financial reform in Latin America must be improvement in corporate governance through legal reform. -
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Labor Market Institutions and Income Inequality: An Empirical Exploration
( 2009)This paper presents evidence on the impact of labor regulations on income inequality using a recently published database on labor institutions and outcomes as well as different panel data analysis techniques for a large sample of countries for 1970-2000. When applying our preferred technique we find that both de jure and de facto regulations improve the distribution of income although the former appear to be non-robustly associated with improving income inequality. This result partly reflects the fact that regulations are endogenous and, more interestingly, that different regulation yield distinct effects. -
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Informality and Productivity in the Labor Market in Peru
( 2008)This article analyzes the evolution of informal employment in Peru from 1986 to 2001. Contrary to what one would expect, the informality rates increased steadily during the 1990s despite the introduction of flexible contracting mechanisms, a healthy macroeconomic recovery, and tighter tax codes and regulation. We explore different factors that may explain this upward trend including the role of labor legislation and labor allocation between/within sectors of economic activity. Finally, we illustrate the negative correlation between productivity and informality by evaluating the impacts of the Youth Training PROJOVEN Program that offers vocational training to disadvantaged young individuals. We find significant training impacts on the probability of formal employment for both males and females. -
Publication
Privatization in Latin America : Myths and Reality
(Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005)Privatization is under attack. Beginning in the 1980s, thousands of failing state-owned enterprises worldwide have been turned over to the private sector. But public opinion has turned against privatization. A large political backlash has been brewing for some time, infused by accusations of corruption, abuse of market power, and neglect of the poor. What is the real record of privatization and are the criticisms justified? This report evaluates the empirical evidence on privatization in a region that has witnessed an extensive decline in the state's share of production over the past 20 years. The book is a compilation of recent studies that provide a comprehensive analysis of the record of and accusations against privatization, with important recommendations for the future. Seven countries are investigated: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. -
Publication
Impact of Long Run Exposure to Television on Homicides: Some Evidence from Brazil
(Taylor and Francis, 2016-05-25)This paper focuses on the link between television coverage and violent crime, in particular, homicides in Brazil, a country where crime has grown dramatically in recent decades. Using Census data for the period 1980–2000, the paper finds that people living in areas covered by television signal have significantly lower rates of homicides. The effect is strongest for men of lower socioeconomic status. -
Publication
(Ineffective) Messages to Encourage Recycling: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Peru
(Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2015-01)There is growing interest in using messaging to drive prosocial behaviors, which contribute to investment in public goods. We worked with a leading nongovernmental organization in Peru to randomize nine different prorecycling messages that were crafted on the basis of best practices, prior evidence, and theories of behavioral change. Different variants emphasized information on environmental or social benefits, social comparisons, social sanctions, authority, and reminders. None of the messages had significant effects on recycling behavior. However, reducing the cost of ongoing participation by providing a recycling bin significantly increased recycling among enrolled households.