BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is a multifaceted intervention for preterm and low birth weight infants and their parents. Short-and mid-term benefits of KMC on survival, neurodevelopment, breastfeeding, and the quality of mother-infant bonding were documented in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in Colombia from 1993 to 1996. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the persistence of these results in young adulthood.

In November 2008, Colombian authorities dismantled a network of Ponzi schemes, making hundreds of thousands of investors lose tens of millions of dollars throughout the country. Using original data on the geographical incidence of the Ponzi schemes, this paper estimates the impact of their break down on crime. We find that the crash of Ponzi schemes differentially exacerbated crime in affected districts. Confirming the intuition of the standard economic model of crime, this effect is only present in places with relatively weak judicial and law enforcement institutions, and with little access to consumption smoothing mechanisms such as microcredit. In addition, we show that, with the exception of economically-motivated felonies such as robbery, violent crime is not affected by the negative shock.

Aim The protective effects of Kangaroo mother care (KMC) on the neurodevelopment of preterm infants are well established, but we do not know whether the benefits persist beyond infancy. Our aim was to determine whether providing KMC in infancy affected brain volumes in young adulthood. Method Standardised cognitive, memory and motor skills tests were used to determine the brain volumes of 20‐year‐old adults who had formed part of a randomised controlled trial of KMC versus incubator care. Multivariate analysis of brain volumes was conducted according to KMC exposure. Results The study comprised 178 adults born preterm: 97 had received KMC and 81 were incubator care controls. Bivariate analysis showed larger volumes of total grey matter, basal nuclei and cerebellum in those who had received KMC, and the white matter was better organised. This means that the volumes of the main brain structures associated with intelligence, attention, memory and coordination were larger in the KMC group. Multivariate lineal regression analysis demonstrated the direct relationship between brain volumes and duration of KMC, after controlling for potential confounders. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the neuroprotective effects of KMC for preterm infants persisted beyond childhood and improved their lifetime functionality and quality of life.

Using a simple model to characterize adolescents’ behavior, we show that the effect of educational Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs on teenage pregnancy depends on the limits and conditions of the programs. The model shows that when benefits are conditional on school success or when the program has a binding duration limit, the CCT reduces teenage pregnancy rates. Using original data, we estimate this relation for two different CCT programs implemented in Bogotá, Colombia. The two programs differ in that only one of them conditions benefit renewal on school success. The empirical results are consistent with the predictions of the model. Only the program that conditions renewal of the transfer, reduces average teenage pregnancy rates. We also find that, also consistent with our model, the other program reduces teenage pregnancy rates only for those girls for which the duration limit is binding.

ResumenEste artículo evalúa uno de los componentes fundamentales de la política más icónica del gobierno de Álvaro Uribe: la Seguridad Democrática. En particular, se evalúa el impacto sobre la intensidad del conflicto armado de los despliegues y refuerzos de policía en municipios con poca o nula presencia policial antes de agosto de 2002. Para ello se utiliza el estimador de diferencia en diferencias, que compara el cambio en la dinámica del conflicto una vez asignados los nuevos efectivos a los municipios receptores, relativo al cambio ocurrido simultáneamente en los municipios no receptores. Nuestros resultados, que son robustos a estimar los modelos sobre una muestra emparejada, sugieren Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad 69I semestre 2012 * Se agradecen los comentarios de Ximena Peña y dos evaluadores anónimos, y la colaboración de Mauricio Vela y Giselle Vesga. Esta investigación fue financiada por la Universidad del Rosario, por medio del Proyecto FIUR DVG-086.