This book is one of the few comprehensive works focusing on the sub-regional institutions in the Latin American and Caribbean region. These organisations and institutions enrich the co-operation at sub-regional level, but, in most cases, are neglected in legal literature. They have mainly economic purposes but they also contribute to new forms of institutional co-operation in other areas, including financial, political and social matters. The volume addresses some of the most representative of these institutions, such as the Mercosur, the Andean Community and sub-regional financial organisations (e.g. Central American Bank for Economic Integration and Andean Development Corporation) as well as new developments including the UNASUR and the Alliance for the Pacific. It provides updated information on the structure and changes of the institutions, and constitutes a valuable resource for those wishing to keep pace with legal developments in the fast-moving world of international institutional law. The book will appeal to a wide audience including researchers and practitioners specialising in international law and international organisations and related disciplines. Marco Odello, JD (Rome), LLM (Nottingham), PhD (Madrid) is a Reader in Law at Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK. Francesco Seatzu, JD (Cagliari), PhD (Nottingham) is Professor of International and European Law at the University of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy.

Foreword .-- Introduction .-- Part 1. Social policy institutions. -- Chapter I. Institutional framework for social development / Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Maldonado Valera .-- Chapter II. Social development and social protection institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean: overview and challenges / Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Maldonado Valera .-- Part 2. Components and institutional framewoek of social protection. -- Chapter III. Labour market regulation and social protection: institutional challenges / Mario D. Velásquez Pinto .-- Chapter IV. Institutional aspects of Latin America's pension systems / Andras Uthoff .-- Chapter V. Care as a pillar of social protection: rights, policies and institutions in Latin America / María Nieves Rico, Claudia Robles .-- Part 3. Policies for specific populations and their institutional framework .-- Chapter VI. Life cycle and social policies: youth institutions in the region / Daniela Trucco .-- Chapter VII. Disability and public policy: institutional progress and challenges in Latin America / Heidi Ullmann .-- Chapter VIII. Latin American Afrodescendants: institutional framework and public policies / Marta Rangel.

Law and Employment analyzes the effects of regulation and deregulation on Latin American labor markets and presents empirically grounded studies of the costs of regulation. Numerous labor regulations that were introduced or reformed in Latin America in the past thirty years have had important economic consequences. Nobel Prize-winning economist James J. Heckman and Carmen Pagés document the behavior of firms attempting to stay in business and be competitive while facing the high costs of complying with these labor laws. They challenge the prevailing view that labor market regulations affect only the distribution of labor incomes and have little or no impact on efficiency or the performance of labor markets. Using new micro-evidence, this volume shows that labor regulations reduce labor market turnover rates and flexibility, promote inequality, and discriminate against marginal workers. Along with in-depth studies of Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Jamaica, and Trinidad, Law and Employment provides comparative analysis of Latin American economies against a range of European countries and the United States. The book breaks new ground by quantifying not only the cost of regulation in Latin America, the Caribbean, and in the OECD, but also the broader impact of this regulation.

"As a complete and consolidated text on the bilateral, multilateral and sub-regional institutions that operate in Latin America and the Caribbean, International Dispute Resolution in Latin America: An Institutional Overview will be of great interest to corporate counsel, international lawyers, and business people, as well as to students of international dispute resolution and international affairs. Public officials in the region will appreciate the book's assistance in enabling them to decipher the institutional labyrinth which currently exists in Latin America."--BOOK JACKET.

This book is one of the few comprehensive works focusing on the sub-regional institutions in the Latin American and Caribbean region. These organisations and institutions enrich the co-operation at sub-regional level, but, in most cases, are neglected in legal literature. They have mainly economic purposes but they also contribute to new forms of institutional co-operation in other areas, including financial, political and social matters. The volume addresses some of the most representative of these institutions, such as the Mercosur, the Andean Community and sub-regional financial organisations (e.g. Central American Bank for Economic Integration and Andean Development Corporation) as well as new developments including the UNASUR and the Alliance for the Pacific. It provides updated information on the structure and changes of the institutions, and constitutes a valuable resource for those wishing to keep pace with legal developments in the fast-moving world of international institutional law. The book will appeal to a wide audience including researchers and practitioners specialising in international law and international organisations and related disciplines. Marco Odello, JD (Rome), LLM (Nottingham), PhD (Madrid) is a Reader in Law at Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK. Francesco Seatzu, JD (Cagliari), PhD (Nottingham) is Professor of International and European Law at the University of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy.

Analysts and policymakers often decry the failure of institutions to accomplish their stated purpose. Bringing together leading scholars of Latin American politics, this volume helps us understand why. The volume offers a conceptual and theoretical framework for studying weak institutions. It introduces different dimensions of institutional weakness and explores the origins and consequences of that weakness. Drawing on recent research on constitutional and electoral reform, executive-legislative relations, property rights, environmental and labor regulation, indigenous rights, squatters and street vendors, and anti-domestic violence laws in Latin America, the volume's chapters show us that politicians often design institutions that they cannot or do not want to enforce or comply with. Challenging existing theories of institutional design, the volume helps us understand the logic that drives the creation of weak institutions, as well as the conditions under which they may be transformed into institutions that matter.

This volume examines violence across Latin America and the Caribbean to demonstrate the importance of subnational analysis over national aggregates.