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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2015‒09‒11
seven papers chosen by |
| By: | Simone Cecchini (IPC-IG); Fernando Filgueira (IPC-IG); Claudia Robles (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "National case studies on social protection systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), reveal that over the past 10 years social protection systems and, in general, social policies in the region have been transformed. This shift is very different than the nature of reforms in the 1980s and early 1990s. While that time period was characterised by the State pulling back from and limiting its role in social actions (reducing or freezing social spending, privatisation, restricted targeting), the new century has seen the State play a larger role in social issues (expanded coverage, partial or total re-nationalisation, increased social spending)."(...) |
| Keywords: | Social Protection Systems, Latin America, Caribbean, Comparative Perspective |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:284&r=all |
| By: | Leopoldo Tornarolli (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | Latin American countries have always been characterised by relatively high levels of income inequality, even taking into account their degree of economic development. If such excess inequality is combined with the fact that these are mostly middle-income and low-income countries, it can be understood that, in general, the middle class has not historically represented a significant proportion of the population in many countries in the region. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, most countries in Latin America have enjoyed a relatively stable process of economic growth, accompanied by decreases in income inequality. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the incidence of poverty in the region and an increase in the share of the population belonging to the middle class. Currently, the size of the middle class in most countries in the region is similar to or even exceeds that of the poor population. (…) |
| Keywords: | Evolution, Middle Class, Latin America |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:wpaper:128&r=all |
| By: | Claudia Robles Farías (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | Chile has a long history of implementing social policies. It was one of the first countries in Latin America to expand free health care coverage and education, incorporating cash and in-kind transfers to promote access to social services and offer diverse protection mechanisms for its most vulnerable population groups. That said, its current social protection model is the result of a series of efforts, institutions and policies that have been consolidated over time.(…) |
| Keywords: | Social Protection Systems, Latin America, the Caribbean, Chile |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:279&r=all |
| By: | Francesco Grigoli; Alexander Herman; Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes saving patterns and determinants in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), including key policy variables and regimes. The review of previous empirical studies on LAC saving reveals contradictions and omissions. This paper presents empirical results of an extensive search of determinants of private and public saving rates, adding previously neglected variables (including different measures of key external prices and macroeconomic policy regimes), in linear form and in interactions with other saving determinants. It analyzes statistical differences in saving determinants between LAC and the rest of the world in a nested econometric framework, and discusses differences across three country subgroups within LAC. The results highlight commonalities and differences in saving behavior between LAC and other world regions, as well as within LAC, identifying the role of key policy variables and regimes. |
| Keywords: | Chile;Colombia;Consumption;Costa Rica;Dominica;Dominican Republic;Argentina;Antigua and Barbuda;Bahamas, The;Barbados;Belize;Bolivia;El Salvador;Ecuador;Jamaica;Latin America;Nicaragua;Haiti;Guyana;Guatemala;Grenada;Honduras;Peru;Panama;Paraguay;Saint Kitts and Nevis;Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;Saint Lucia;Uruguay;Suriname;Trinidad and Tobago;private saving, public saving, saving, income, tax, Models with Panel Data, General, |
| Date: | 2015–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:15/108&r=all |
| By: | Tiago Falcão (IPC-IG); Patricia Vieira da Costa (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "Reducing poverty has been a signature of the Brazilian government for over a decade. The Bolsa Família (BF) conditional cash transfer programme, launched in 2003, enhanced the countrys existing social protection system, adding a new focus on poverty–especially poor children. Its success spurred the development of the Single Registry for Social Programmes, which made the characteristics and needs of the poorest populations in the country visible to the State for the first time, thus allowing federal, state and municipal governments to provide them with services."(...) |
| Keywords: | Brazil without Extreme Poverty, New Perspectives, Brazilian Social Protection |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:301&r=all |
| By: | Carlos Henrique L. Corseuil (IPC-IG); Marcelo Neri (IPC-IG); Gabriel Ulyssea (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the potential impacts of the Lei do Empreendedor Individual (Individual Entrepreneur Law). We intend to present evidence that helps clarify, albeit only partially, whether the policy was successful in promoting: i) micro-entrepreneurship in Brazil; and ii) the formalisation of entrepreneurs. Regarding the promotion of micro-entrepreneurship, there is evidence that the policy may have achieved this particular goal. It is worth noting, however, that the evidence in this study suggests that larger businesses could be reducing their scale in order to fit within the programme requirements, as well as there being a possibility that certain companies, particularly smaller ones, might be using the programme to change their working relationships with their employees, from wage-earning work to services rendered. The policy seems to have had a positive effect on the formalisation of individual entrepreneurs in terms of social security contributions, but not in the rate of registration in the National Register of Legal Entities (CNPJ). |
| Keywords: | Exploratory Analysis, Effects, Formalisation, Policy, Individual Micro-Entrepreneurs |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:wpaper:129&r=all |
| By: | José Eustáquio Diniz Alves (IPC-IG); Suzana Cavenaghi (IPC-IG) |
| Keywords: | Bolsa Família, Fertility, Transition, Brazil |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:oparab:227&r=all |