Research

We examine the difference in long-term impacts of two policies that target urban slums, relocation versus redevelopment on-site, on children's future outcomes. We use evidence from a slum clearance program in Chile between 1979 and 1984, where two-thirds of slum-dwelling families were relocated to housing projects on the city’s periphery, and one-third received housing through on-site redevelopment at their original locations. We find that 40 years post-policy, displaced children receive 0.65 fewer years of schooling, earn 10\% less, and experience higher labor informality compared to non-displaced children. Longer distances from jobs, disrupted social networks, and relocation to lower-opportunity areas explain the negative displacement effects. As adults, displaced children live in higher poverty areas, but new transportation infrastructure helps reduce the gap between displaced and non-displaced individuals.

This paper examines the short- and medium-term effects of extending maternity leave on women's labor market outcomes, exploiting a reform implemented in Chile in 2011 that increased maternity leave from 84 to 168 days. I combine administrative data on leave claims with employer-employee data to estimate the effect of longer leave on women's employment and wages seven years after giving birth. The results show that, compared to ineligible workers, eligible women extend their maternity leave by 79 days and reduce their use of other sick leave claims. They are also more likely to be formally employed for up to three years after giving birth, and their formal wages increase in the medium term. These positive employment effects are driven by women with low labor market attachment prior to giving birth, who experience a reduction in separation rates and an increased likelihood of working under a permanent contract in the medium term. These results suggest that a longer leave incentivizes employment by helping mothers remain in the formal labor market.

This paper examines the relationship between forced displacements and adult mortality. We use evidence from a slum clearance program implemented in Santiago, Chile, between 1979 and 1985, which mandated slum dwellers to relocate to public housing in low-income areas. Two-thirds of families were relocated to new housing projects on the periphery of the city, while the rest received housing at their initial location. We compare the outcomes of displaced and non-displaced adults from slums with the same probability of relocation and find that displacement increases mortality. Displaced individuals are 7% less likely to survive 40 years after the intervention and experience a reduction in longevity of 2.5 years. Among those who survive to the age of 65, displacement reduces long-term earnings by 18% and increases the likelihood of developing a disability. Mechanisms suggest that the mortality risk is higher for individuals relocated to areas with lower longevity, where access to formal jobs is more scarce, and for those whose networks were disrupted.

We study the effects of a change in the administration of public health services on infant mortality and birth outcomes. In Chile in 1980, a policy reform shifted the administration of public services from a centralized to a local system, putting local municipalities in charge of administering primary healthcare centers (transfers of PCHC). We take advantage of the staggered implementation of the reform and past utilization rates of PCHCs, to study how differential exposure to local administration affects birth outcomes. To estimate the effects, we collect archival records of the dates when each PCHC was transferred to a local municipality, which we combine with data on birth records from 1985 onward. Our results indicate that higher exposure to the reform leads to higher neonatal and infant mortality. The increase in child mortality is due to perinatal conditions, consistent with worse birth outcomes such as low birth weight. The effects vary by how the transfer process occurred: Municipalities with a higher administrative burden faced larger effects on child mortality.

The Pinochet dictatorship radically changed Chile’s public housing policies in the 1980s. This chapter examines the characteristics of these policies, focusing on affordable housing and slum clearance. The chapter is divided into two parts. The first documents the changes to affordable housing policies and the characteristics of public housing units built after 1975. The second describes policies targeting slum dwellers and discusses the existing economic evidence on the impact of building public housing in peripheral neighborhoods on families’ and children’s socioeconomic outcomes.