Carlos Scartascini
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 231279 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Carlos Scartascini |
| PRENOMES | Carlos |
| SOBRENOME | Scartascini |
| ASSINATURA | SCARTASCINI C |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Inter-American Development Bank |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7031-3983 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 28 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 190 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 27 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2008 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 7 |
Training minds, shaping policies
Cognitive biases are pervasive, even among policymakers whose decisions have wide welfare consequences. Yet little is known about whether scalable training can mitigate them. This paper reports evidence from a randomized controlled trial embedded in an online behavioral economics course for public officials in Latin America and the Caribbean. Participants were randomly assigned to complete a seven-item diagnostic test either before or after the c…
Increasing responsiveness of civil servants. A field experiment on freedom of information compliance
Previous research has examined the impact of financial incentives on public sector performance, but there is limited evidence on how non-financial incentives influence civil servants’ behavior—particularly in encouraging compliance with secondary tasks such as responding to freedom-of-information (FOI) requests. Although these tasks are not formally linked to performance evaluations, they are essential for promoting government transparency and bu…
Keep your promises, even when your peers do not
This study measures the effect of partisan and polarizing social media messages on political trust and trustworthiness in Brazil and Mexico. We implemented two survey experiments with approximately 2,300 respondents each, using a modified “trust game” to measure the effects of polarizing social media messages on two dimensions: trust (the belief that others will fulfill their pledges) and trustworthiness (fulfilling the pledges made to others). A…
Disaster and political trust
Overconfidence and preferences for gun use
Combating vaccine hesitancy
Cervical cancer, primarily caused by persistent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection, remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women in low- and middle-income countries. Although HPV vaccines are widely available in these regions, vaccine uptake remains persistently low. To address behavioral barriers contributing to this low demand, we employed a mixed-method design combining qualitative analysis with a large-scale random…
Tempering the Taste for Vengeance
Punitive anti-crime policies in the Americas have contributed to steadily increasing rates of incarceration. Harsh penalties are often demanded by citizens, making them attractive to politicians. Yet the contextual determinants of participation in crime are rarely understood by the public. In this article, we employ a survey experiment conducted in Chile in order to examine how the provision of information about the prison population shapes taste…
How can we improve air pollution? Try increasing trust first
Environmental policies are characterized by salient short-term costs and long-term benefits that are difficult to observe and to attribute to the government's efforts. These characteristics imply that citizens’ support for environmental policies is highly dependent on their trust in the government's capability to implement solutions and commitment to investments in those policies. Using novel survey data from Mexico City, we show that trust in th…
Does information about citizen participation initiatives increase political trust
Participatory programs can reduce the informational and power asymmetries that engender mistrust. These programs, however, cannot include every citizen. Hence, it is important to evaluate if providing information about those programs could affect trust among those who do not participate. We assess the effect of an informational campaign about these programs in the context of a survey experiment conducted in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Re…
A heavy hand or a helping hand? Information provision and citizen preferences for anti-crime policies
Anti-crime policy is often unresponsive to reductions in crime. To address why, we provide a model and empirical test of how citizens’ anti-crime policy preferences respond to information. Our model shows that preferences for anti-crime policy hinge on expectations about the crime rate: punitive policies are preferred in high crime contexts, whereas social policies are preferred in low crime contexts. We evaluate these expectations through an inf…
Combating Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean
Crime is a major problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. With 9 percent of the world's population, the region accounts for 33 percent of global homicides. Using new, extensive survey data, we endeavor to identify what anti-crime policies citizens in the region demand from their governments. We also analyze who is demanding what and why. We find that harsher penalties appear to be the preferred weapon in the anti-crime arsenal but people are w…
The Database of Political Institutions 2020 (DPI2020)
The Database of Political Institutions presents institutional and electoral results data such as measures of checks and balances, tenure and stability of the government, identification of party affiliation and ideology, and fragmentation of opposition and government parties in the legislature. The current version of the database expands its coverage to about 180 countries for 45 years, 1975-2020. It has become one of the most cited databases in c…
Fiscal consolidations and electoral outcomes in emerging economies
Transparency and Trust in Government. Evidence from a Survey Experiment
Does providing information improve citizens’ perception of government transparency? Does all information matter the same for shaping perceptions about the government? This article addresses these questions in the context of an online randomized survey experiment conducted in Argentina. Results show that providing information to citizens matters for shaping perceptions about transparency, and the content of that information matters for affecting t…
The Database of Political Institutions 2017 (DPI2017)
The Database of Political Institutions presents institutional and electoral results data such as measures of checks and balances, tenure and stability of the government, identification of party affiliation and ideology, and fragmentation of opposition and government parties in the legislature, among others. The current version of the database, which is now hosted at the IDB, expands its coverage to about 180 countries for 40 years, 1975-2017. Res…
Mejor gasto para mejores vidas
El gasto público ha aumentado en América Latina y el Caribe. Aprovechando las bajas tasas de interés y las ganancias extraordinarias de los productos básicos, muchos gobiernos de la región intentaron abrirse camino hacia el futuro. Lamentablemente, la fiesta se acabó y los responsables de las políticas públicas deberán encontrar la manera de mantener sus economías en crecimiento y a sus ciudadanos felices de manera sostenible desde el punto de vi…
Sports for Development
The IDB has been supporting Sports-for-Development (SFD) initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2004. This document reviews IDB-sponsored initiatives in 18 countries to shed light on what works and doesn’t work. Given the importance of designing programs right to avoid unintended consequences, increasing data collection and analysis is crucial. This monograph is a contribution to that effort.
Tax Reforms in Latin America in an Era of Democracy
The literature on taxes and public finance generally focuses on revenues, an easily observable and generally available variable, as the observable measure of tax policy. Still, revenues depend on many determinants other than the political will and policy objectives of the government. It is therefore important, when studying the politics of taxation, to evaluate specific changes to the tax code such as rates, bases and exemptions. With the underly…
Congressional Institutionalization
This article explains variations in levels of institutionalization across legislatures of the world. It construes institutionalization as an equilibrium outcome that emerges from beliefs and investments made by political actors. Drawing insights from work on US congressional institutionalization and congressional organization, and on comparative party system institutionalization, it provides an index to measure congressional institutionalization.…
Forthcoming in Volume 54 Number 1
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
The economic effects of constitutions
Veto players and policy adaptability
The capacity to sustain policies over time and the capacity to adjust policies in the face of changing circumstances are two desirable properties of policymaking systems. Veto player theory, a very influential approach in comparative politics, has suggested that polities with more veto players will have the capacity to sustain policies at the expense of the ability to change policy when necessary. This paper argues that once intertemporal conside…
The Organization of the Executive Branch in Latin America
This article proposes a research agenda for the organization of the executive branch in Latin America by reviewing the literature on the U.S. and Latin American presidencies and outlining the research gap between them. The study finds that while strong, regionwide patterns have been established about cabinets in Latin America, research is lagging behind on the presidential center, presidential advisory networks, and their effects in policymaking.…
Inequality and Personal Income Taxation
Why does personal income taxation (PIT) remain relatively low in many developing countries despite a period of democratic advancement and rapid economic growth? This stylized fact is hard to reconcile with standard political economy models of taxation that expect democratic regimes to bring about redistribution in countries that suffer from high inequality. This article argues that the details of political institutions are key to understand why P…
The Making of Policy
This article attempts to build bridges in the formal study of policymaking across polities of different degrees of institutional development. It explores the reasons why policymaking is fairly institutionalized in some polities but not in others. It suggests extending standard models of institutionalized policymaking to allow for a wider set of actions, including the threat of violence or of damage to the economy. It engages the discussion of ins…
Political Institutions and Street Protests in Latin America
In this article, the authors argue that where institutions are strong, actors are more likely to participate in the political process through institutionalized arenas, while where they are weak, protests and other unconventional means of participation become more appealing. The authors explore this relationship empirically by combining country-level measures of institutional strength with individual-level information on protest participation in s…
Inequality and Personal Income Taxation
Why does personal income taxation (PIT) remain relatively low in many developing countries despite a period of democratic advancement and rapid economic growth? This stylized fact is hard to reconcile with standard political economy models of taxation that expect democratic regimes to bring about redistribution in countries that suffer from high inequality. This article argues that the details of political institutions are key to understand why P…
The Making of Policy
This article attempts to build bridges in the formal study of policymaking across polities of different degrees of institutional development. It explores the reasons why policymaking is fairly institutionalized in some polities but not in others. It suggests extending standard models of institutionalized policymaking to allow for a wider set of actions, including the threat of violence or of damage to the economy. It engages the discussion of ins…
Transparency and Trust in Government. Evidence from a Survey Experiment
Does providing information improve citizens’ perception of government transparency? Does all information matter the same for shaping perceptions about the government? This article addresses these questions in the context of an online randomized survey experiment conducted in Argentina. Results show that providing information to citizens matters for shaping perceptions about transparency, and the content of that information matters for affecting t…
Congressional Institutionalization
This article explains variations in levels of institutionalization across legislatures of the world. It construes institutionalization as an equilibrium outcome that emerges from beliefs and investments made by political actors. Drawing insights from work on US congressional institutionalization and congressional organization, and on comparative party system institutionalization, it provides an index to measure congressional institutionalization.…
Does information about citizen participation initiatives increase political trust
Participatory programs can reduce the informational and power asymmetries that engender mistrust. These programs, however, cannot include every citizen. Hence, it is important to evaluate if providing information about those programs could affect trust among those who do not participate. We assess the effect of an informational campaign about these programs in the context of a survey experiment conducted in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Re…
Veto players and policy adaptability
The capacity to sustain policies over time and the capacity to adjust policies in the face of changing circumstances are two desirable properties of policymaking systems. Veto player theory, a very influential approach in comparative politics, has suggested that polities with more veto players will have the capacity to sustain policies at the expense of the ability to change policy when necessary. This paper argues that once intertemporal conside…
A heavy hand or a helping hand? Information provision and citizen preferences for anti-crime policies
Anti-crime policy is often unresponsive to reductions in crime. To address why, we provide a model and empirical test of how citizens’ anti-crime policy preferences respond to information. Our model shows that preferences for anti-crime policy hinge on expectations about the crime rate: punitive policies are preferred in high crime contexts, whereas social policies are preferred in low crime contexts. We evaluate these expectations through an inf…
Tempering the Taste for Vengeance
Punitive anti-crime policies in the Americas have contributed to steadily increasing rates of incarceration. Harsh penalties are often demanded by citizens, making them attractive to politicians. Yet the contextual determinants of participation in crime are rarely understood by the public. In this article, we employ a survey experiment conducted in Chile in order to examine how the provision of information about the prison population shapes taste…
The Organization of the Executive Branch in Latin America
This article proposes a research agenda for the organization of the executive branch in Latin America by reviewing the literature on the U.S. and Latin American presidencies and outlining the research gap between them. The study finds that while strong, regionwide patterns have been established about cabinets in Latin America, research is lagging behind on the presidential center, presidential advisory networks, and their effects in policymaking.…
Disaster and political trust
The economic effects of constitutions
Beyond Facts
Traditionally, the concept of quality of life has been viewed through objective indicators. Beyond Facts looks at quality of life through a new lens, namely, the perceptions of millions of Latin Americans. Using an enhanced version of the recently created Gallup World Poll that incorporates Latin America-specific questions, the Inter-American Development Bank surveyed people from throughout the region and found that perceptions of quality of life…
How Democracy Works
Over the past 30 years, democratic freedoms and competitive electoral processes have taken hold as never before in Latin America. How Democracy Works takes a detailed look, from an institutional perspective, at each of the main actors on the policymaking stage in Latin America, emphasizing the extent to which institutions facilitate or hinder intertemporal political cooperation and compromise. It analyzes official political actors and arenas, as …
Political Institutions and Street Protests in Latin America
In this article, the authors argue that where institutions are strong, actors are more likely to participate in the political process through institutionalized arenas, while where they are weak, protests and other unconventional means of participation become more appealing. The authors explore this relationship empirically by combining country-level measures of institutional strength with individual-level information on protest participation in s…
The Making of Policy
This article attempts to build bridges in the formal study of policymaking across polities of different degrees of institutional development. It explores the reasons why policymaking is fairly institutionalized in some polities but not in others. It suggests extending standard models of institutionalized policymaking to allow for a wider set of actions, including the threat of violence or of damage to the economy. It engages the discussion of ins…
Inequality and Personal Income Taxation
Why does personal income taxation (PIT) remain relatively low in many developing countries despite a period of democratic advancement and rapid economic growth? This stylized fact is hard to reconcile with standard political economy models of taxation that expect democratic regimes to bring about redistribution in countries that suffer from high inequality. This article argues that the details of political institutions are key to understand why P…
The economic effects of constitutions
Veto players and policy adaptability
The capacity to sustain policies over time and the capacity to adjust policies in the face of changing circumstances are two desirable properties of policymaking systems. Veto player theory, a very influential approach in comparative politics, has suggested that polities with more veto players will have the capacity to sustain policies at the expense of the ability to change policy when necessary. This paper argues that once intertemporal conside…
The Organization of the Executive Branch in Latin America
This article proposes a research agenda for the organization of the executive branch in Latin America by reviewing the literature on the U.S. and Latin American presidencies and outlining the research gap between them. The study finds that while strong, regionwide patterns have been established about cabinets in Latin America, research is lagging behind on the presidential center, presidential advisory networks, and their effects in policymaking.…
Forthcoming in Volume 54 Number 1
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Tax Reforms in Latin America in an Era of Democracy
The literature on taxes and public finance generally focuses on revenues, an easily observable and generally available variable, as the observable measure of tax policy. Still, revenues depend on many determinants other than the political will and policy objectives of the government. It is therefore important, when studying the politics of taxation, to evaluate specific changes to the tax code such as rates, bases and exemptions. With the underly…
Congressional Institutionalization
This article explains variations in levels of institutionalization across legislatures of the world. It construes institutionalization as an equilibrium outcome that emerges from beliefs and investments made by political actors. Drawing insights from work on US congressional institutionalization and congressional organization, and on comparative party system institutionalization, it provides an index to measure congressional institutionalization.…
Sports for Development
The IDB has been supporting Sports-for-Development (SFD) initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2004. This document reviews IDB-sponsored initiatives in 18 countries to shed light on what works and doesn’t work. Given the importance of designing programs right to avoid unintended consequences, increasing data collection and analysis is crucial. This monograph is a contribution to that effort.
The Database of Political Institutions 2017 (DPI2017)
The Database of Political Institutions presents institutional and electoral results data such as measures of checks and balances, tenure and stability of the government, identification of party affiliation and ideology, and fragmentation of opposition and government parties in the legislature, among others. The current version of the database, which is now hosted at the IDB, expands its coverage to about 180 countries for 40 years, 1975-2017. Res…
Mejor gasto para mejores vidas
El gasto público ha aumentado en América Latina y el Caribe. Aprovechando las bajas tasas de interés y las ganancias extraordinarias de los productos básicos, muchos gobiernos de la región intentaron abrirse camino hacia el futuro. Lamentablemente, la fiesta se acabó y los responsables de las políticas públicas deberán encontrar la manera de mantener sus economías en crecimiento y a sus ciudadanos felices de manera sostenible desde el punto de vi…
Fiscal consolidations and electoral outcomes in emerging economies
Transparency and Trust in Government. Evidence from a Survey Experiment
Does providing information improve citizens’ perception of government transparency? Does all information matter the same for shaping perceptions about the government? This article addresses these questions in the context of an online randomized survey experiment conducted in Argentina. Results show that providing information to citizens matters for shaping perceptions about transparency, and the content of that information matters for affecting t…
Combating Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean
Crime is a major problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. With 9 percent of the world's population, the region accounts for 33 percent of global homicides. Using new, extensive survey data, we endeavor to identify what anti-crime policies citizens in the region demand from their governments. We also analyze who is demanding what and why. We find that harsher penalties appear to be the preferred weapon in the anti-crime arsenal but people are w…
The Database of Political Institutions 2020 (DPI2020)
The Database of Political Institutions presents institutional and electoral results data such as measures of checks and balances, tenure and stability of the government, identification of party affiliation and ideology, and fragmentation of opposition and government parties in the legislature. The current version of the database expands its coverage to about 180 countries for 45 years, 1975-2020. It has become one of the most cited databases in c…
How can we improve air pollution? Try increasing trust first
Environmental policies are characterized by salient short-term costs and long-term benefits that are difficult to observe and to attribute to the government's efforts. These characteristics imply that citizens’ support for environmental policies is highly dependent on their trust in the government's capability to implement solutions and commitment to investments in those policies. Using novel survey data from Mexico City, we show that trust in th…
Does information about citizen participation initiatives increase political trust
Participatory programs can reduce the informational and power asymmetries that engender mistrust. These programs, however, cannot include every citizen. Hence, it is important to evaluate if providing information about those programs could affect trust among those who do not participate. We assess the effect of an informational campaign about these programs in the context of a survey experiment conducted in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Re…
A heavy hand or a helping hand? Information provision and citizen preferences for anti-crime policies
Anti-crime policy is often unresponsive to reductions in crime. To address why, we provide a model and empirical test of how citizens’ anti-crime policy preferences respond to information. Our model shows that preferences for anti-crime policy hinge on expectations about the crime rate: punitive policies are preferred in high crime contexts, whereas social policies are preferred in low crime contexts. We evaluate these expectations through an inf…
Tempering the Taste for Vengeance
Punitive anti-crime policies in the Americas have contributed to steadily increasing rates of incarceration. Harsh penalties are often demanded by citizens, making them attractive to politicians. Yet the contextual determinants of participation in crime are rarely understood by the public. In this article, we employ a survey experiment conducted in Chile in order to examine how the provision of information about the prison population shapes taste…
Keep your promises, even when your peers do not
This study measures the effect of partisan and polarizing social media messages on political trust and trustworthiness in Brazil and Mexico. We implemented two survey experiments with approximately 2,300 respondents each, using a modified “trust game” to measure the effects of polarizing social media messages on two dimensions: trust (the belief that others will fulfill their pledges) and trustworthiness (fulfilling the pledges made to others). A…
Disaster and political trust
Overconfidence and preferences for gun use
Political science (23 obras) · Law (15 obras) · Politics (15 obras) · Economics (12 obras) · Sociology (12 obras) · Law (9 obras) · Political economy (9 obras) · Public economics (9 obras) · Business (6 obras) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (6 obras)