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This paper focuses on an evaluation and benchmarking of the governance of regulatory agencies in the electricity sector in Latin American Countries (LAC). Using a unique database, we develop an index of regulatory governance and rank all the agencies in the LAC countries. The index is an aggregate number of the evaluation of four key governance characteristics: autonomy, transparency, accountability, and regulatory tools, including not only formal aspects of regulation but also indicators related to actual implementation. Based on 18 different indexes, we analyze the positions of agencies with regard to different aspects of their regulatory governance, considering not only performance in each variable but also scores in the different components of each category. This evaluation allows for the identification of particular country shortcomings regarding governance, and indicates needed improvements. Although the region shows an overall good governance design of their regulatory agencies, the implementation of the independent regulator model still faces several challenges. This is particularly evident in political autonomy and in the informal aspects of governance, where the region shows the largest number of countries with the lowest scores. Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil show the best results and Ecuador, Honduras, and Chile the poorest performances. The rest of the countries vary according to the different indexes. We give each governance variable equal weights and positively test the robustness of our approach using Principal Component Analysis.

Accountability --- Banks and Banking Reform --- Country Strategy and Performance --- Disclosure --- Good Governance --- Governance --- Governance Indicators --- Institutional Arrangements --- Institutional Development --- Judiciary --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- National Governance --- Public Sector Corruption and Anticorruption Measures --- Regulatory Policies --- Regulatory Policy --- Transparency

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While the theoretical and empirical finance literature has focused almost exclusively on enterprise credit, about half of credit extended by banks to the private sector in a sample of 45 developing and developed countries is to households. The share of household credit in total credit increases as countries grow richer and financial systems develop. Cross-country regressions, however, suggest a positive and significant impact on gross domestic product per capita growth only of enterprise but not household credit. These two findings together partly explain why previous studies have found a small or insignificant effect of finance on growth in high-income countries. In addition, countries with a lower share of manufacturing, a higher degree of urbanization, and more market-oriented financial systems have a higher share of household credit. It is thus mostly socio-economic trends that determine credit composition, while policies influencing banking market structure and regulatory policies are not robustly related to credit composition.

Access to Finance --- Bank --- Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress --- Banks --- Banks and Banking Reform --- Credit --- Debt Markets --- Economic Theory and Research --- Enterprise --- Enterprise credit --- Finance --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Intermediation --- Financial systems --- Household --- Households --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Regulatory policies

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This paper takes stock of the growing success of preferential trade agreements. It revisits what are the defining characteristics of modern preferential trade agreements, which are typically pursued for a diverse array of motives. In particular, the market access justification traditionally used to analyze the desirability and impact of preferential trade agreements misses increasingly important dimensions. The "Beyond Market Access" agenda of preferential trade agreements presents a new and broad set of deep regulatory and policy issues that differs in substance from the removal of tariff and quantitative barriers to trade. Issues related to preferences and discrimination, as well as the nature and implementation of commitments acquire a different meaning in deep preferential trade agreements. This change of paradigm presents significant opportunities and challenges for reform-minded developing countries to use preferential trade agreements to their own advantage.

Developing countries --- Economic development --- Emerging Markets --- Environment --- Environmental Economics & Policies --- Free Trade --- International Economics and Trade --- Law and Development --- Market Access --- Preferential access --- Preferential market access --- Preferential Trade Agreements --- Preferential treatment --- Private Sector Development --- Regulatory policies --- Tariff rate --- Trade and Regional Integration --- Trade barriers --- Trade Law

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Since 1990, Singapore has sought to control motor vehicle ownership by means of an auction quota system, whereby prospective vehicle buyers need to obtain a quota license before they can make their purchase. This paper assesses the success of the vehicle quota system in meeting its objectives of stability in motor vehicle growth, flexibility in the motor vehicle mix, and equity among motor vehicle buyers. Two important implementation issues-quota subcategorization and license transferability-are highlighted, and policy lessons are drawn for the design of auction quotas in general.

Investments: Commodities --- Taxation --- Demography --- Auctions --- Rationing --- Licensing --- Transportation Systems: Government Pricing --- Regulatory Policies --- Demographic Economics: General --- Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts --- Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies --- General Financial Markets: General (includes Measurement and Data) --- Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General --- Population & demography --- Public finance & taxation --- Population & migration geography --- Investment & securities --- Population and demographics --- Population growth --- Transaction tax --- Arbitrage --- Tax incidence --- Taxes --- Commodities --- Tax policy --- Population --- Financial instruments --- Tax administration and procedure --- Singapore

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How does a shrinking population affect the housing market? In this study, drawing on Japan’s experience, we find that there exists an asymmetric relationship between housing prices and population change. Due to the durability of housing structures, the decline in housing prices associated with population losses is estimated to be larger than the rise in prices associated with population increases. Given that population losses have been and are projected to be more acute in rural areas than urban areas in Japan, the on-going demographic transition in Japan could worsen regional disparities, as falling house prices in rural areas could intensify population outflows. Policy measures to promote more even population growth across regions, and avoid the over-supply of houses, are critical to stabilize house prices with a shrinking population.

Japan --- Inflation --- Infrastructure --- Real Estate --- Demography --- Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models: Models with Panel Data --- Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts --- Housing Supply and Markets --- Production Analysis and Firm Location: Government Policies --- Regulatory Policies --- Demographic Economics: General --- Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis --- Housing --- Price Level --- Deflation --- Property & real estate --- Population & demography --- Macroeconomics --- Population & migration geography --- Housing prices --- Population and demographics --- Population growth --- Prices --- National accounts --- Population --- Saving and investment