NEWSLETTER: El mundo durante el COVID-19 / The World during COVID-19
Friday, November 19
Contributions, comments and suggestions/Aportes, comentarios y sugerencias: OASPress@oas.org
ECONOMICS/ECONOMÍA
Pandemic Persistence Clouds Latin America and Caribbean Recovery/ IMF
Two structural characteristics of Latin American and the Caribbean economies contributed to the relatively larger economic impact: comparatively more people work in activities that require close physical proximity, and less people have jobs in which teleworking is feasible. Almost 45 percent of jobs are in contact-intensive sectors (like restaurants, retail stores, or public transportation), compared to just over 30 percent for emerging markets. In reverse, only about one in five jobs can be done remotely, half the share of advanced economies and below the emerging world average (26 percent). These two features, in addition to a high degree of informality and poverty, and combined with lower trade and financial turbulence caused by the ailing global economy, contributed to the historic collapse in activity.
Global Outlook on Financing for Sustainable Development 2021/ OECD
The Global Outlook on Financing for Sustainable Development 2021 calls for collective action to address both the short-term collapse in resources of developing countries as well as long-term strategies to build back better following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The financing gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries was estimated at several trillions of dollars annually before the pandemic. The report demonstrates that progress to leave no one behind has since reversed, and the international community faces unprecedented challenges to implement the holistic financing strategy set out in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA). The report finds that trillions of dollars in financial assets held by asset managers, banks and institutional investors are contributing to inequalities and unsustainable practices. It highlights the need to enhance the quality of financing through better incentives, accountability and transparency mechanisms, integrating the long-term risks of climate change, global health, and other non-financial factors into investment decisions. The report concludes with a plan of action for all actors to work jointly to reduce market failures in the global financial system and to seize opportunities to align financing in support of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.
Infraestructura de Internet en América Latina: puntos de intercambio de tráfico, redes de distribución de contenido, cables submarinos y centros de datos/ CEPAL
La infraestructura de interconexión y distribución de contenidos en Internet en América Latina se ha desarrollado significativamente en los últimos años. Si bien se constatan las mismas heterogeneidades que cuando analizamos cualquier indicador social o económico, en términos generales, el desarrollo actual constituye una buena base para continuar el camino de crecimiento necesario para enfrentar los desafíos futuros.
Al momento de finalizar este trabajo, el mundo está sufriendo un gigantesco cambio como consecuencia de la pandemia del COVID-19. Debido a las medidas de distanciamiento físico, el uso de Internet ha crecido de forma muy significativa provocando exigencias inesperadas a la infraestructura existente tanto en el mundo como en la región. Todavía es muy temprano para medir los impactos concretos de este fenómeno, pero se estima que el tráfico de datos ha crecido en promedio 30%. En algunos lugares donde se empiezan a flexibilizar las medidas de distanciamiento, se
ENVIROMENT/MEDIO AMBIENTE
Financing sustainable forest management: a key component of sustainable COVID-19 recovery/UNDESA
This policy brief aims to provide an analysis of the adverse impacts of the pandemic on the income generation function of forests, and the current and future funding trends for forests. It also proposes measures to finance sustainable forest management, mobilize investment and resources for forests, as a key component for effective post pandemic recovery plans.
LABOUR/TRABAJO
The Future of Jobs Report 2020/ WEF
The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns and related global recession of 2020 have created a highly uncertain outlook for the labour market and accelerated the arrival of the future of work. The Future of Jobs Report 2020 aims to shed light on: 1) the pandemic-related disruptions thus far in 2020, contextualized within a longer history of economic cycles, and 2) the expected outlook for technology adoption jobs and skills in the next five years. Despite the currently high degree of uncertainty, the report uses a unique combination of qualitative and quantitative intelligence to expand the knowledge base about the future of jobs and skills. It aggregates the views of business leaders—chief executives, chief strategy officers and chief human resources officers–on the frontlines of decision-making regarding human capital with the latest data from public and private sources to create a clearer picture of both the current situation and the future outlook for jobs and skills. The report also provides in-depth information for 15 industry sectors and 26 advanced and emerging countries.
Firms struggle to stay afloat after losing half of sales, but still keep workers/ World Bank
They primarily target micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries to capture the impact of COVID-19 on firm performance, understand firm adjustment strategies, and policy responses. The surveys are agile, deployed rapidly by phone or online in about 15 minutes. The initial round of data collection took place from May to August 2020 in 51 countries—covering more than 100,000 businesses in all regions and countries of different sizes and income levels. We plan follow-on surveys quarterly, beginning in October.
POLITICS/POLÌTICA
The COVID-19 crisis: A catalyst for government transformation? /OECD
This OECD COVID-19 policy brief examines how and to what extent the crisis has served as a catalyst for government transformation. It draws these observations and analysis from over 400 cases and initiatives captured in the OECD’s COVID-19 Innovative Responses Tracker.
SOCIETY/SOCIEDAD
Vaccine challenges/ VOX-CEPR
Last week brought welcome news about the apparent effectiveness of a potential Covid-19 vaccine. While the challenges of manufacturing and distributing the vaccine lie ahead, this column argues that the most difficult challenge may actually be getting people to take it. A September survey of more than 10,000 Americans showed that only a slim majority of adult respondents would definitely or probably get a vaccine to prevent Covid-19, were it available today. A 2018 study shows that vaccine scepticism is even greater in a number of other countries. Hope lies in the possibility of a more consistent and effective public policy response, in which governments’ non-pharmaceutical interventions produce positive results, in turn fostering confidence in the safety and efficacy of any vaccine they endorse and distribute.
Who should get it first? Public preferences for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine/ VOX-CEPR
Once a safe COVID-19 vaccine will become available, there will not be enough supply of it to vaccinate the entire population. Policy makers at national and international level are currently developing vaccine prioritization strategies. However, it is important that these strategies have sufficient levels of public support. We conducted a ranking exercise and a discrete choice experiment on a representative sample of 2,000 Belgians in order to elicit their preferences regarding how to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine across the population. We identified that three sub-groups had similarly high levels of support for access priority: the chronically ill, essential professions, and individuals likely to spread the virus the most. We identified two clusters of respondents. While both wanted to vaccinate essential professions, cluster one (N=1058) primarily wanted to target virus spreaders whereas cluster two (N=886) wanted to prioritize the chronically ill. Prioritizing those over 60 years of age was remarkably unpopular. Other strategies such as allocating the vaccine using a ‘lottery’, ‘first-come, first-served’ approach or willingness-to-pay received little support. Public opinion is a key variable for a successful engaged COVID-19 vaccination policy. A strategy simultaneously prioritizing medical risk groups, essential professions and spreaders seems to be most in line with societal preferences. When asked to choose, people agree to vaccinate essential professions but disagree whether to prioritise people with high-medical risk or virus spreaders.
Regulatory policy and COVID-19: Behavioural insights for fast-paced decision making/OECD
This policy paper was developed by the Regulatory Policy Division of the OECD Public Governance Directorate, with inputs from behavioural practitioners and policy makers in the International COVID-19 Behavioural Insights and Policy Group. It discusses from a regulatory governance perspective why behavioural insights (BI) should be considered as part of a holistic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, what governance challenges involved in deploying BI against the pandemic, and how some countries have responded to these challenges. Reflecting on these challenges and opportunities allows governments to promote resiliency by preparing the BI field for future crises.
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