The author analyzes the effect of government enforcement on compliance with labor regulations in Argentina, a country where only half of the workforce receives all the benefits to which they are legally entitled. Constructing panel data for the period 1995?2002 across provinces and using the number of labor inspectors per capita as a proxy for enforcement, he estimates the panel data set spanning the time period

This paper provides new measures of government enforcement of labor regulations in eighteen Latin American countries between 1985 and 2009, and explores how it is affected by external and domestic factors. The results suggest that governments react to the competitive pressures produced by trade opening by turning a blind eye to noncompliance, but increase enforcement in response to higher FDI. Governments also react to the demands of their constituent base to keep their support and reinforce partisan affinities, and workers are more effective in more democratic systems.

The potential link between social capital and health suggests important pathways by which health may be improved. We examine this relationship using a unique data set from Argentina. This national survey allows us to determine whether the relationships between social capital and health that have been found in the US and Europe also apply to countries in South America (Argentina is the second-largest country in South America with a population of approximately 40 million). We estimate a causal effect of individual-level social capital on health using a measure of informal social interactions as our measure of social capital. Using information about access to public transportation as instrumental variables, we find that both men and women with higher levels of social capital report better health.

Empirical evidence on the impact of stringent land use regulations on the price of land and housing in urban areas is growing, yet most research has been carried out in countries where ordinances are enforced. If enforcement is lax, the ultimate impact of strict rules on land and housing prices is unclear. Lower levels of compliance with rules can result in negative externalities and thereby exert downward pressure on the price of formal land. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between land use regulations, compliance and land prices in the three major metropolitan areas of Argentina, the country with the most stringent land use and urban development regulations in Latin America, using an original dataset gathered from parcel-and municipal-level surveys. Results show that municipalities with higher levels of regulation have lower rates of compliance with property laws, and lots selling legally in these municipalities have lower land prices.

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