The issue brief explores Mexico’s financial inclusion as an obstacle for development, based on an index developed by the author, expert Jesús Antonio López Cabrera.
When illegal workers use false documents to get a job in the U.S., their employers may complete the paperwork by deducting Social Security, federal, state and Medicare taxes from each paycheck. As of 2010, illegal workers have contributed $12 billion to the Social Security system alone. Such workers face poverty in old age, as they are barred from collecting retirement benefits because of their immigration status, and they have not accrued a pension in their home country.
The landscape is changing for foreign direct investment in Latin America. Investments flow not only from north to south, but also from south to south and south to north. What's more, relatively small firms in developing countries are becoming as likely as multinationals to invest abroad.
An investment strategy that generates financial returns while directing funds to entities providing goods and services to the poor is making headway in Latin America.
Impact investments — investments made with the intention to generate a social and environmental impact alongisde a financial return — have gained momentum both in developed and developing countries in recent years.