Professor Marco Manacorda and Dr Francesco Fasani, both from the School of Economics and Finance, have been invited by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) to develop an impact evaluation strategy for an inmate rehabilitation program in El Salvador, "Granjas Penitenciarias" (Penitentiary Farms).
The program is about the relocation of inmates from prisons to farms, where they are involved in agricultural work and enrolled in educational and training activities. The expectation is that the program will reduce participants’ reoffending and promote subsequent labour market insertion, while at the same time reducing prison overcrowding. At the end of September, Dr Fasani travelled to San Salvador for an initial appraisal of the programme. During the visit he met with officials from the Department of Justice and visited some prisons and Granjas.
The IADB provides finance for projects and research that aim to improve the economic and social development of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.